Past Epilogue
by The Passionate Admiral
Summary: AU- In the aftermath of KOTOR II, both of the Ebon Hawk crews end up coming together. Before their final voyage, they are joined by certain other characters. The crew of Ebon Hawk, now at 30, sets off on its newest mission.
1. What Goes On Now

Past Epilogue

Author: The Passionate Admiral

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I own none of the star wars franchise. Most of the characters in this story do not belong to me, but instead to BioWare and LucasArts. However, Governor Refas, Constable Eliish, Unala Rewtiz, and some of the crime lords, their minions, and a few distinguished individuals belong to me.

In this story of the aftermath of KOTOR II, this is a scenario where Kreia turned her back on the Dark Side, even though she is a senile old hag. Several characters who died in the two games are alive as well. Now both of the crews of the _Ebon Hawk_ from both games have combined together and they are all back on the ship. There are thirty crewmen total, 8 of which are the original crew from KOTOR I, 12 are from the new crew from KOTOR II, and 2 (T3-M4 and HK-47) are from both crews. The other 8 are Trask Ulgo, 3CFD, Davik, Hudrow (the pilot they met before the destruction of Taris), Ratrin Vhek (the guy that claimed the _Ebon Hawk_ belonged to him originally), B-4D4, T1-N1, and T3-H8 (the droid they bought on Taris that literally blew up one second after it left the shop).

Here is the crew manifest of the _Ebon Hawk_-

Revan: Captain

Mona Hallahann (the Exile): Executive Officer

Trask Ulgo: Defense Monitor

Carth Onasi: Warrant Officer

T3-H8: Engines Diagnostic Manager

Mission Vao: Morale Officer

Zaalbar: Supplies Manager

Bastila Shan: Navigator

T3-M4: Chief Engineer

Canderous Ordo: Weapons Officer

Davik Kang: Intelligence Officer

Hudrow: Chief Of Operations

Juhani: Equipment Manager

HK-47: Security Chief

Jolee Bindo: Science Officer

3CFD: Systems Diagnostic Repairer

Kreia: Meditation Officer

Atton Rand: Pilot

B-4D4: Protocol Officer

T1-N1: Records Officer

Bao-Dur: Head Mechanic

Bao-Dur's Remote (Known simply as BD-002): Maintenance Officer

Handmaiden Brianna: Combat Officer

Disciple Mical: Medical Officer

Visas Marr: Reconnaissance Officer

Ratrin Vhek: Communications Officer

Mira: Head Technician

Hanharr: Tactical Officer

GO-TO: Auxiliary Systems Inspector

Mandalore: Strategic Operations Officer

This story will begin to take place six years after KOTOR II. It commences where the crew of thirty will be traveling to Nar Shaddaa to conduct resupplying and restocking of their resources. They are doing this in preparation of their assignment given to them by the Jedi High Council itself: Find a fleet of renegade Sith soldiers and alert the Republic fleet when they encounter them. After they complete restocking, they will be off in space until further notice or until they discover something that could aid them in their search.

Addendum: I KNOW that Canderous and Mandalore are the same person. I knew that from the start, but I came up with an idea on how to use both of them in the same story. All this will be cleared up in a later chapter.


	2. Expecting

Note: this first story entry does not yet introduce the characters from the KOTOR games. It is an interaction between the governor of Nar Shaddaa and his chief of security, who are discussing what they should expect upon the _Ebon Hawk_'s arrival.

On Nar Shaddaa, Governor Werel Refas was sitting in his office, filling out paperwork. Most of it was clearance being requested by various ships to dock and transport goods on this part of the planet. He had been accepting the majority of them. The governor was also provided with information on various activities of the Exchange and other gangs lurking around in the shadows. Recently a fight between the Iopet and the Fnoli clans had taken place in a nearby province. Around thirty from each clan had been killed. But that had taken place almost a month earlier. Refas had his mind focused on the present and the future.

While busying himself with his work, the planet's chief of security, Constable Saerx Eliish, had stopped by to make his daily report to the governor. Eliish described to Refas all the activity and business deals happening on the planet. He informed him of a few disagreements some ships had over which landing pad was the one they had been given clearance for, and how a fight had almost ensued because of the said disagreements. There was also a smuggling operation that had been uncovered by the authorities. After giving him the news of the crime activities that had been taken care of, the two men started discussing the topic of any and all vessels that were scheduled to dock on the planet within three weeks of the current date.

"Are there any other ships scheduled to make a stop within the next five days?" asked Governor Refas after they had relayed a report to the dock management center to designate a landing site for a trade convoy they were expecting to arrive soon.

"Well, sir, there are a few freighters and cruisers." reported Constable Eliish. "And there is a Republic ship coming in."

"What's its designation?" asked Refas.

"It is the _Ebon Hawk_." answered Eliish. "And interestingly enough, this is not the first time it has been here."

"When was the last time?" inquired Refas.

"It took place on this date, sir." Eliish informed him, handing him a datapad containing information.

Refas looked and the pad, noting "Their time of departure was not long after the Republic destroyed Goto's Yacht, the _Visionary_. And their time of arrival was just slightly before the most feared bounty hunters on this planet were killed."

Eliish explained to him "They were responsible for both of those events. However, the government completely exonerated them because they were reacting in self-defense."

"Why were the bounty hunters and Goto's men after them?" asked Refas.

"Because they had a renegade Jedi in their group." said Eliish.

"Of course." commented Refas, recalling the old bounty on Jedi. "How did they overcome the threat?"

"Fortunately for the _Ebon Hawk_ crew, the bounty hunters only knew that their captain, Mona Hallahan, was a Jedi." explained Eliish. "They never suspected that several other members of the crew were Jedi as well."

"So let me guess…" said Refas, "Mona Hallahan was invited to the Jekk'Jekk'Tarr by a crimelord, such as Saquesh, and when she was captured by Goto, her crew stopped at nothing until they saved their captain, no matter what was in the way."

"Totally correct, sir." said Eliish. "However, we have been notified that the crew of the ship at that time has combined with the original Republic crew from the War with the Sith. They also have the ship's old mercenary crew members, who have turned to the Republic to better themselves."

"How large is the crew of the _Ebon Hawk_?" asked Refas.

"Thirty." answered Eliish.

"Which species is each member?" inquired Refas.

"Eight of them are droids." Eliish responded. "There are four utility droids, one assassin droid, one protocol droid, one probe droid, and one sensor drone."

"What about the twenty-two organic beings?" asked Refas.

"Let me see…" muttered Eliish, "ah, here we go. There are three Mandalorians, one Iridonian, one Cather, one Miraluka, one Twe'lik, two Wookiees, and thirteen Humans."

"That does come out to thirty." noted Refas.

"Well, actually sir, unofficially, the crew is about to become thirty-two." Eliish informed him.

"Are they bringing aboard new officers?"

"No."

"Are they taking on passengers?"

"No."

"Emissaries?"

"No."

"Ambassadors?"

"No."

"Are they arresting someone?"

"No."

"I give up." said Refas. "How will the crew be increasing by two?"

"Well, sir…" began Eliish, "there have been some reports. They say that both the executive officer and the navigator are… pregnant."

"Pregnant?" said Refas.

"Yes, sir." said Eliish. "The fathers respectively are the pilot and the captain."

"Fascinating." said Refas. "Is there anything else?"

"Well, they are asking for a specific place to land their ship." Eliish informed him. "I would like to hear your suggestion on that subject."

Refas just stood up and walked to the full-length windows at the side of his office. He looked out the windows and looked out into the city. His office was relatively high, even when compared to the distance between the landing platforms and the ground. With his hands behind his back, he looked out the window and watched as dozens of ships flew past many buildings. He thought about how he was the leader of everyone that passed, and how they had elected him because they believed in his leadership. He was not going to disappoint the public because of some dilemma with some Jedi and Republic war heroes. He hoped to find a way to settle a conflict before it even began.

Refas was brought back to reality when Eliish asked him "Governor, what are your orders?"

"Where did they dock when they were last on this planet?" asked Refas

"I believe their ship was docked in the Refugee Sector." answered Eliish. "There was a report of an incident between that ship's crew and the crew of the _Red Eclipse_."

"The _Red Eclipse_?" asked Refas. "That's a slave ship. How did the fight turn out?"

"Well, sir," Eliish enlightened him, "the _Red Eclipse_ did have a reputation as being full of deadly mercenaries and bounty hunters, but their first big mistake was made when they boarded the ship while the crew was searching for a missing Jedi. 36 members of the _Red Eclipse_ crew raided the landing platform and boarded the ship. Despite the fact that they were far more violent than the crew of the _Ebon Hawk_ and they outnumbered them almost four to one, the _Ebon Hawk_ crew killed all but one of the invaders without losing a single person. In the end, Cahhmakt, the ship's Captain and the sole survivor of the attack, agreed to permitting the _Ebon Hawk_ to use the landing platform as long as they needed it, and paid them for their inconveniences."

After a few moments of thinking, Refas told Eliish "I want you to give them the directive to land on whichever platform they landed on last. The Refugee Sector may be loaded with twisted villainy, lowlife scum, bounty hunters, and the heart of the Exchange, but it is still one of the places a Jedi can be the safest."

"I will have that order transmitted to their ship right away." said Eliish. "Is there anything else you require, sir?"

"Well, I believe more insight would be very ideal right about now." Refas said to him. He ordered "I want a dossier on every member of that crew before that ship arrives." Then he added "Including the droids."

"I will have it on your desk ready to explain it within an hour, sir." said Eliish.

"Thank you, Constable. You are dismissed." Refas heard the door to his office open, and then close. He was alone in his office once more. He remained at the window for several minutes before returning to his work. He continued to work nonchalantly, but beneath the heart of the matter, he knew there was one thing he should definitely be expecting to arise from this situation: Trouble.


	3. New And Old Crew

Now here's where we get to the characters that we all know and love:

(Note: This _Ebon Hawk_ is slightly larger in terms of the dimensions of the rooms and size. Just imagine it being 1.5 times its known size. Its internal design from the games are still the same, except that both of the dormitories are larger and they have four small rooms of three in each one. (This comes out to a place for 24 people to sleep. Of the 30 crewmembers, the 8 droids are the only ones who do not require sleep, so there are 22 crewmembers who do require sleep. Pretty soon the third bed in Revan and Bastila's room will be occupied, as will the one in Mona and Atton's quarters.))

In the vast regions of space, the Republic vessel _Ebon Hawk _was traveling in hyperspace towards Nar Shaddaa, the most famous moon of Nal Hutta. Nar Shaddaa itself had earned a reputation as being the most chaotic but most advanced and convenient business hub in the galaxy. This was precisely why the crew of the _Ebon Hawk _was destined for this planet.

The crew of the _Ebon Hawk _was composed of a variety of species, but almost half of the crew was human. Each member of the crew was there for his or her own reasons. Some were old Republic war veterans; others were soldiers dedicated to defending the Republic. Some were ex-mercenaries seeking to find a new life in aiding the Republic; others were specifically looking for a way to bring the galaxy peace and stability.

The ship was small, but it was more than capable of sustaining its twenty-two organic crewmembers and its eight artificial ones. The crewmembers were each busying themselves with either their own tasks or their pleasures.

In the engine room, Mira, Hudrow and T3-M4 were working on the engines and ensuring that they were operating at optimal efficiency. While Hudrow made some minor modifications to the starboard engine to compensate for any discrepancies in its functions, Mira performed repairs on the port engine by replacing a conduit's old power cells with new ones. At that same time, T3 was inspecting the hyperdrive to make certain it was working perfectly.

In the cargo hold, 3CFD was repairing a damaged plasteel cylinder which had been wrecked by a faulty frag grenade by accident. At the same time, Hanharr and Brianna the Handmaiden were practicing their hand-to-hand combat. Hanharr easily surpassed her in size and strength, but she still proved to be more than a formidable opponent for him.

In the main hold, T1-N1 was updating the logs with the ship's flight plan and its mission into the main computer. A few feet away from him, GO-TO was examining the conduits in the computers and the walls for any signs of possible damage. So far, he had found nothing wrong with any of them. Zaalbar was reading reports on the slaving business and how it had been declining in the past few years, especially in the Wookiee market. This brought Zaalbar great satisfaction when he read it.

On the far end of the room, the storage compartment was open, and Juhani and Canderous Ordo were storing some equipment and weapons in that area in the event of a spontaneous attack or operations disaster occurring on the ship.

In the port dormitories, Kreia was teaching Davik Kang how to meditate and be at peace with himself and problems from his past. She found him to be a quick and promising learner.

In the starboard dormitories, Mission Vao was working on a report of the crew's self-confidence to determine how their hopefulness was holding up, and Visas Marr was concentrating on a few objects in front of her, levitating them with the Force.

In the medical bay, Jolee Bindo was performing a maternal health exam on a visibly pregnant Mona Hallahann (aka the Exile). Normally it would be Mical the Disciple as the one conducting the health exam, but Mical was busy at that moment treating Hanharr, who had just badly lost a combat duel to Brianna. But as soon as Mical had Hanharr's wounds treated in minutes, Hanharr got back up and went back to the cargo bay for another round against Brianna. That was his second loss in a row that morning. Once Hanharr was gone, Mical took over performing the health exam on Mona, which allowed Jolee to take some time to study the corpse of a small animal that was apparently a Tach-Gizka hybrid.

Just outside that room, T3-H8 was examining the utility lift and the turret access port for any glitches in either of them. He tested both of them to guarantee that there was nothing wrong with them. He tested the turrets in a simulation and went up to the exterior roof of the ship and back into the interior to test the lift. Both of them checked out as operating within normal parameters.

In the garage, Bao-Dur was performing maintenance on the energy cells in the far wall. He modified them if they were out of sync, and he made sure they were distributing energy to the ship evenly. Across the room, his remote, BD-002 was floating in the air, repairing a piece of electrical technology that had been impaired by a sonic discharge. Mandalore was standing against the wall, working on a plan for how the crew and the ship would proceed on their journey. His plan included new strategies and ideals for an increased chance of success. HK-47 stood near the doorway leading to the exit ramp, working on several ways to better the ship's defensive systems. At that moment, he was pondering on how to improve the laser turrets to make them hit their targets more accurately. On the other side of the doorway, Trask Ulgo was standing at his post at the exit ramp. Because they were in space at the time, the exit ramp was up in place and staying up in place until they landed the ship again. But all the same, Trask held his position in the unlikely, yet still possible event they were to be boarded by hostile forces.

In the communications array, Ratrin Vhek was monitoring the camera system and keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. He was very good at spotting abnormal objects, but there were none for him to notice at that instant. B-4D4 was standing at the wall on the other end of the room, filing a report about the entire crew's conduct and effort. He had found each and every member of the crew to be performing excellent work and demonstrating superb conduct. Even the people who were the hardest to get along with like HK-47, GO-TO, Hanharr, and even Kreia were being rather courteous to the rest of the crew.

In the cockpit, Carth Onasi and Atton Rand had the _Ebon Hawk _on auto-pilot, but they were still keeping their eyes on the screen and the panels to make course adjustments when necessary. While they worked, they talked to each other about pazaak and its highlights. Carth was not very good at the game personally, but Atton was a very skilled player. In fact, the only two people aboard who could beat him were Revan and Mona. Bastila was sitting behind Atton, studying the navigations charts and calculating the course they should take upon leaving Nar Shaddaa. Bastila was also very pregnant like Mona, and Revan was assisting her with her work. He was standing behind her, looking at the galaxy map and charting the last known coordinates of the renegade Sith the Jedi Council had ordered the crew to track down.

The thirty members of the crew had been brought back together after so long. It had been at least three years since any of them had encountered as much as two of the others in one place. The only exceptions were Revan and Bastila, and Atton and Mona. The former couple had been married for two years and the latter couple had been for one year. They had all met with Carth when they had been summoned by the Jedi Council to hunt down the renegade Sith fleet. But all that mattered then was that they were all reunited and working together to serve the Republic and the common good once more.

As Revan worked with Bastila on the navigations charts, he noticed that Atton was somewhat distracted from his work. He inquired "Atton, is there something on your mind?"

"Truthfully, there is." Atton responded to the question. "Mona's in the medical bay undergoing her weekly maternal examination, and I feel that I should be there with her."

"Well, why did you not simply say so?" stated Revan "Go ahead and visit with your wife. Carth, Bastila, and I can manage flying the ship by ourselves."

Before Atton could ask Revan if he was sure of that decision, Revan assured him that he had no problems with him tending to his wife. Atton thanked his captain, stood up, and left the cockpit. Carth got up from the co-pilot terminal and replaced Atton's place at the head pilot station. Revan then kneeled in front of Bastila and gesturing to her expectant lower chest asked of her "Is it not nearing the time when you should turn up in the medical lab for your weekly appointment?"

She grinned and answered her husband "No, it is not for another day and a half." Then she continued to work on her navigations reports. Bastila was further into her pregnancy than Mona was into hers; their expected due dates were approximately two and a quarter months apart. Both they and their husbands were ecstatic with the concept that they would soon become parents.

Revan smiled back at his wife and kissed her on the lips. Then he stood up and walked up behind Carth. He leaned over and rested his hand on the side panel, asking Carth "How much longer will it be until we arrive at Nar Shaddaa?"

Carth located the _Ebon Hawk_'s current position, and then he located Nar Shaddaa on the star charts. After determining the distance between the two, he informed Revan "Based on our current speed, we will arrive at the planet in about 29.6 hours, Revan."

Recently, Revan found that he had become accustomed to going by his real name. In fact, nowadays more people knew him for his acts of kindness and dedication to the republic as an honorable Jedi than for his acts of terrorism and fear as a Sith Lord. Also at this time, more people thought of a reputable and altruistic man than an abhorrent and callous one when they heard his name.

"Alright, I guess we should discuss our plans for restocking, investigation, and diplomatic relations with the rest of the crew." suggested Revan. "I'll tell Retrin to have everybody report to the main hold in ten minutes so that we may do just that." He left the room and headed to the communications array. He gave Retrin the orders and subsequently Retrin entered the message onto the ship's mainframe and had it broadcasted over the ship's internal loudspeaker system. The rest of the crew all heard the message loud and clear. Ten minutes later, all thirty members of the crew met in the main hold to be informed of Revan's plans for their procedures onto Nar Shaddaa.


	4. Discovered Insight

Note: This chapter introduces another character which I own- Agent Iomori.

(Back on Nar Shaddaa in the office)

Constable Eliish had finished acquiring the dossiers on the _Ebon Hawk _crew that had been requested by Governor Refas. He was in the governor's office, presenting them to him. The constable went fully into explaining how each member of the crew had achieved a position on the ship, and how they were working together because of past relationships.

"Their current mission has been classified by the Republic database." Eliish noted. "That fact somewhat worries me."

"Why do you say that, Constable?" asked Refas, as he took a sip from a mug of juma juice.

"Well, Governor," began Eliish, "consider the following: the _Ebon Hawk_, a Republic vessel with several of its crewmembers being Jedi, has been dispatched to this planet. Due to this planet's known treatment of Jedi, it makes one wonder why they would come here. Why do you think such a ship would come to this planet?"

Refas sat thinking in his chair for a few moments, and then he thought up one possibility for the _Ebon Hawk_'s presence. He addressed the subject to Eliish with "Perhaps it would be because this is the biggest economic center known to exist? I mean, they must be wishing to restock their inventory for a long-term event."

"That is almost exactly what I was thinking, sir." Eliish responded to Refas. "I believe that they are coming here because this planet has some exclusive merchandise that cannot be found anywhere else, and they can learn plenty of information from just about anyone, including the refugees. However, their crew has several Jedi in it, which would put those members at risk. But apparently this mission to Nar Shaddaa is so important that they are willing to risk their lives."

Refas rubbed his chin and looking down on the reports in his hand, he thought aloud "What could they possibly be planning that would make their visit here be so important? I mean, there have been no reports of Sith activity on this planet for centuries."

Eliish's eyes lit up. He said to the governor "But there have been some rather recent reports of a renegade Sith fleet operating just a few weeks' worth of travel away from here. However, all of the reports are suspected of being rumors and are being examined for their authenticity."

"Rumors or no rumors," began Refas as he stood up and walked around his desk, "we can fairly address that report as a possible hypothesis for why the _Ebon Hawk _is on its way here. But before we get further into its reasons for being here, I believe we should concern ourselves with the safety of the crew on Nar Shaddaa. Whatever they are planning to do once they leave is their own business. Now, exactly how many members of the crew are Jedi?"

Eliish looked at his data, somewhat worried about how Refas would react when he was given his answer. After a few moments of silence, Refas asked him "Do you know how many of them are Jedi, Constable?"

Eliish answered him "Yes, Governor, I do know. But you're not going to like the number."

Refas picked up his mug of juma juice and before he took a drink from it, he told Eliish "Just tell me the number, Constable."

As Refas took a drink from his mug, Eliish looked up at him and stated flat out "Twelve."

Refas lowered his mug quickly while simultaneously spewing out his juma juice. He coughed into his sleeve a few times, and then he looked back at Eliish. "Did you say twelve?"

"Yes, sir." answered Eliish.

"A dozen Jedi are going to be on this planet within the next two days?" Refas still struggled to grasp that entire concept.

"Yes, sir." Eliish repeated as Refas wiped his mouth off. "There are five male members and seven female members of the crew who are Jedi."

Refas sighed and sat back down at his desk. Placing his mug to the side, he sat up in his chair and asked Eliish "Which ones are the Jedi?"

Eliish went into his report on the Jedi members of the crew: "The only female member of the crew who is not a Jedi is the Twi'lek, Mission Vao. She is also the youngest organic member of the crew. All of the droids are younger than her, however."

"At any rate," Eliish continued, "the Cather, Juhani, and the Miraluka, Visas Marr, are also Jedi. They both also have the distinction of having once fallen to the dark side, but they were saved by Revan and Mona Hallahann respectively. One of the Mandalorians, Mira, is a Jedi as well. She joined to crew shortly after they came to this planet, eventually learning the ways of the force along the way. The other three female Jedi members of the crew are Human. Mona Hallahann is another one of the Jedi. Her skills are partially what made her the _Ebon Hawk_'s first officer. On a side note, she is pregnant, sir. Brianna, a woman who served as Handmaiden to the Jedi Atris, joined the crew as an observer of the ship's activities, and later as an official member of the crew. Overtime, she was taught in the ways of the Force as well. There is also Bastila Shan, one of the surviving members of the Jedi Council on Dantooine before the base there was destroyed. Like Mona, she is also pregnant. Lastly we have Kreia, an old woman who fell to the dark side of the Force and attempted to reform Malachor V before it was destroyed for the second and final time. She somehow redeemed herself like Visas and Juhani."

"That covers the female members of the crew." noted Refas. "Can you tell me who the five male members are?"

"Certainly, Governor." responded Eliish. He looked back at his data and went on, "There is Jolee Bindo, an old war veteran who had lived in secrecy on Kashyyyk for many years. He is well-known for his many skills in warfare. There is also Atton Rand, an ex-mercenary who became an official soldier for the Republic before the Sith besieged Citadel Station on Telos. He is also Mona's husband and the father of her baby. We also have Bao-Dur, a very skillful technological expert who played a significant role in the Telos Restoration Project. He is the Iridonian; more specifically a Zabrak. Next there is the ship's captain, Revan, who we all know was once the most feared Sith Lord in the entire galaxy. But now more people know him for his acts of benevolence today than his acts of brutality. That reputation seemed to go into effect after he killed Darth Malak. He is also Bastila's husband and the father of her baby. Finally, we have Mical, a Jedi disciple who remained on the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine even after it had been ravaged by the ship. He proved to be a very insightful member of the crew later on as a guide and in some ways a mentor."

Refas sat at his desk and thought about how they would handle the situation involving twelve Jedi being simultaneously on Nar Shaddaa. Then he stood up and order Eliish "I want you to keep this matter secret. Tell nobody about the crew of the _Ebon Hawk_. As far as anyone else is concerned, there are no Jedi on that ship. Have you told anyone else about this yet?"

"No, sir." Eliish answered the governor. "I have not discussed this matter with anyone except you. No one at the shipyards or docks read the crew manifest, either. They only handed in a list of all the ships coming in. They did not bother viewing the crew rosters before we did. In my opinion, it was wise for us to create that policy. It may serve more than security reasons at this time."

"Then it seems that you and I are the only two on this planet who know that a group of Jedi will be arriving tomorrow." Refas speculated. "Don't let anyone else get so much as a glimpse at the crew catalog. I want you to overview it yourself and tell whoever is directing the landing pads in that sector that the _Ebon Hawk _is still cleared for landing."

Eliish nodded and said "Yes, sir. After I finish inspecting the files on the _Ebon Hawk _crew, I'll have the yard superintendent officially reserve the landing pad in the refugee sector for the vessel."

Refas smiled at the constable and said "Good work, Eliish. I am glad you and I can cooperate on something like this and arrive at an acceptable solution."

"I am glad we were able to resolve this as well, Mr. Refas." Eliish commented.

Suddenly there was a heavy knock on the door. As Eliish turned to the door, Refas called out "Come in."

One of Eliish's deputies came running into the room, out of breath and exhausted from running. He had a datapad in his hand.

"Are you alright, Agent Iomori?" asked Refas to the exhausted deputy.

"Yes, sir." gasped Agent Prollin Iomori, who had his hands on his knees and was panting inconsistently. He held up the datapad to Eliish, who took it and examined what was on it. "I came to deliver a piece of information you may find interesting and very disturbing at the same time. A ship just left the landing docks without the necessary clearance to leave. The members of its crew are all unaccounted for on the entire planet."

"What was the name of the ship, and what was the area of business its crew specializes in?" asked Eliish as he looked through the report Iomori gave him.

"It was the _Gocowera_, a ship with a crew of Rodians, Trandoshans, Weequays, and Devaronians." Iomori answered his superior officer as he regained his breath. Eliish got him some water from a storage unit in the room while he continued his explanation. "The _Gocowera _specializes in a variety of markets, but its peak performance is in slave trading and bounty hunting. The crew is also very good at accomplishing the work posted by the Exchange."

"You came all the way up here to tell us that?" assumed Refas, getting up and walking to the front of his desk to join the other two men.

"No sir," retorted Iomori as he drank some of the water Eliish had given him, "I came to tell you what I believe was the reason for its departure."

He took the datapad from Eliish and scrolled down to a part of his report that contained a star chart. He enlarged the chart onto the section containing the _Gocowera _and all space within a day's travel from it. Iomori then handed the datapad back to Eliish, who examined the star chart closely. He discovered that the _Gocowera _was on an intercept course for a vessel that was approaching the planet. However, that was not the most shocking part. When Eliish saw the ID signature of the other vessel, his pupils fully dilated and stared at the chart. Handing it over for Refas, Eliish said to him "This is not good at all, sir."

Refas took the datapad and examined the star chart. He was shocked upon seeing the other's ship's ID signature, he looked up at Iomori and asked him "Iomori, when you said that the crew of the _Gocowera _specializes in the opportunities provided by the Exchange, did you mean all of the opportunities?"

"Unfortunately, yes, sir." Iomori replied. "Including the one for-"

"We know, Iomori." Eliish interrupted the young officer.

Refas could only gaze at the name of the other vessel. Finally, he handed the datapad back to Iomori and told both him and Eliish "We need to do something about this situation, and we need to do it hastily and swiftly."

Eliish told him "I agree. If we don't, at least a dozen crewmembers of the _Ebon Hawk _are going to be welcomed here by a potentially threatening welcome party."


	5. The Longterm Plan

(The entire crew is assembled in the main hold now.)

Revan stood by the holograph imaging unit in the center of the main hold and pressed a few buttons on the control panel. The hologram emitter brought up a large blueprint of the district of the refugee sector that the _Ebon Hawk _had been to when its crew had been searching for Jedi Master Zez-Kai Ell. He then explained to them his plan. He told them "We have been given clearance to land on the planet, and fortunately for us, the landing pad they have assigned to us is the same one this ship used the last time it visited this planet. That means we know what we are looking for, and we know precisely where to find it. This place is still inhospitable towards Jedi, so we should proceed with caution."

After getting through the basics of the instructions, Revan told his crewmates what they would each be assigned to accomplish on the planet. He explained with "We'll break off into four teams. We'll have three teams of eight and one group of six. The group of six will stay here on the ship to watch over it and to keep the engines warm. Ratrin, you stay in the communications array and keep a line open to everyone. Report anything suspicious or supposedly suspicious to us immediately. 3CFD, you inspect all of the ship's operations closely. Prepare an analysis on all the systems. T3-H8, you check up on the engines. Make sure they are running at optimal efficiency. Trask, you stand guard at the top of the exit ramp. HK-47, you stand guard at the bottom of the ramp and patrol the dock. Get back in the ship and bring the ramp up if you are confronted with an immensely larger hostile force. Hudrow, you look through the ship and check for any faulty machinery. If you find any while we are on the planet, report it to Retrin so that he may contact us and tell us to find a replacement."

Looking back at his plans, Revan announced "Okay, now that we have that taken care of, we'll discuss plans for our activities on the planet itself. Currently, there are three things we need to acquire on this planet: equipment, information, and allies. The equipment will definitely be the easiest to find." He pressed a few buttons on the control panel and enlarged the area near the landing pad they had been assigned to. The area included the swoop race track, the shops, and the entrances to the refugee vicinity, the docks, and the cantina.

Revan continued with "We can find it in the town square. They have droid shops, supplies sights, and other decent stores. Carth, you will command this group. I want you to search around the vicinity and direct everybody to the place they each need to go to find their goods. Mira, you go with Carth and look around for new gear we could use. Also look for anything that would serve more than one purpose. Right now, those types of items would really come in handy."

"Juhani and Zaalbar, you two pair up. Juhani, I want you to take inventory of our gear and try to buy replacements for anything that is broken, damaged, or missing. Also keep your eyes open for equipment that may come in handy later. Zaalbar, catalog all of our provisions and essentials. Get more emergency rations and basic food ingredients. And please… no Gamorrean food this time."

"Bao-Dur, you and your remote should go to the shop run by Geeda, a female Rodian. She owes us countless favors for establishing a trade route to both Dantooine and Onderon for her. She should be able to provide you with that equipment that you have been requesting."

"T1-N1, GO-TO, you look over the records and the auxiliary systems and go to the shop right next to the landing platform. There is plenty of equipment you can find there at decent prices, and a Sullustan who will be happy to assist us in our work."

Revan looked back at the holographic emitter and continued debriefing the others. He had the emitter show them an image of the refugee section. He told them "The next easiest thing we need is information. We can find that anywhere on a moon like this, but the best place is the refugee division. That is where the third team will operate. Mona, you'll lead this team. Try to arrange a meeting with Saquesh, the head of the Exchange. Perhaps he can enlighten us on the current condition of the bounty on Jedi. Atton, you go with her and try to learn all you can about the Exchange and its activities."

"Mission, I am sure that regardless of how much breathing room the Exchange has given the refugees that they are still feeling rather down. See if you can cheer them up. Maybe they'll be willing to share more information if they have more positive attitudes. Mical, you go with her and try to locate anyone who arrived after the last time we left the planet. They would be good for keeping us up on recent events on places other than Nar Shaddaa."

"Jolee, you look around the place and see if you can find anyone you recognized from your days as a soldier. Perhaps they'd be willing to update us on new methods used by the Exchange and other mercenary organizations. We could use that information to exploit any weaknesses the agencies possess. Mandalore, you go with Jolee and look for any Mandalorian refuges. Perhaps they would be willing to follow you and share any knowledge of tactics and fighting styles that are being used by the Exchange or other people at the present."

"Visas, you ask around for rumors of any Sith activity in close proximity to this sector of space. They are the last thing we need to encounter any time soon. B-4D4, I want you with Visas. Try to accumulate intelligence on new ways for us to store more energy and power on the ship. That would come in hand in the event that we are forced to stay in space for weeks, or even months."

Revan had completed the majority of his elucidation. He went ahead with explaining the final part of it. He reprogrammed the emitter so that it would show a blueprint of the docks and the trafficking sight. He informed his crew "The third and hardest thing we need to find on this moon is allies. It's pretty hard to find allies on this planet; especially if you're a Jedi. But we'll take precautions and still stay in pairs."

"I'll be leading this team. I'll try to organize a meeting with Yossev, the new head of the Jekk'Jekk'Tarr. Fortunately for us, he's much more decent than Visquis and will be willing to meet us outside the entrance to the bar. Bastila, I want you to come with me. Keep your eye out for any changes in the bar patrons' behavior, just in case they get drunk and decide to try for that bounty on Jedi."

"Davik, I want you to meet with Vogga the Hutt. Vogga admires men who cheat death. Also, seeing as how you were once a crime lord yourself, he may be willing to listen to you. Brianna, you go with him, just in case Vogga needs some persuasion. Whether it is physical, mental, emotional, or sensual, you need to at least try to get Vogga to hear Davik out."

"T3-M4, I want you to go to the droid garage and try to talk with some of the other droids. Perhaps they would be willing to convince their supervisors to side with us. Also, keep your eyes out for anything that may determine how we can forge alliances on this planet. Canderous, go with T3-M4 and ask the managers about some of the more friendly species on this section of the planet. We need all the friends we can get, and we should know who they are if we encounter them."

"Hanharr, you go to the flophouse and look for people that may work for more benevolent groups or organizations. Anything you learn could be the basis of an alliance in the future. Kreia, you go with Hanharr and see if you could convince anyone to assist not just us, but the Republic too. Please do not use force mind, though. I want them to actually feel that working on our side would be best for both them and us."

Revan looked at his report. He had finished all of it, so he deactivated the emitter and announced to the twenty-nine people in the room with him "That's everything. But everybody should keep in mind: we'll only be on this moon for three weeks; four at the most. That's all the time we can spare for refueling and restocking."

Suddenly, something hit the ship, causing it to shake. "What was that?" shouted Mission.

Carth, Atton, Ratrin, and Revan ran to the front of the ship. Atton and Carth took their seats at the pilot and co-pilot terminal. Then they looked out the cockpit and saw a ship that was slightly larger than the _Ebon Hawk _approaching fast. "We're being attacked by that ship! But our shields are holding!" announced Carth.

"Bring us off our course and hold position." ordered Revan. Atton did as he was told. Revan ordered Ratrin "Hail them."

Ratrin entered the correct hailing frequency onto the transmitter, but soon they found that **they **were being hailed by the other ship. They played the message so that that the entire ship could hear it simultaneously. Then a Devaronian said in his native language "This is Captain Oryetu of the bounty hunter vessel _Gocowera_. We know that you have Jedi in your crew. Surrender them to us and we will allow the rest of you to continue without further attack. Refuse to comply with our request, and we will destroy you. You have one hour to respond. If you attempt to escape, we will destroy you."

Then the communications line was severed. The crewmembers of the _Ebon Hawk _could only look at each other in anxiety.


	6. Ebon Hawk VS Gocowera

Note: Captain Oryetu and all the members of his crew belong to me.

The crewmembers of the _Ebon Hawk _were all back in the main hold. They were discussing all their possible alternatives to the "request" made by the crew of the _Gocowera_.

"Perhaps just one of us could surrender ourselves to them." suggested Mical, the Disciple. "Then whoever goes can slowly take control of the ship and escape later. We could claim that whoever we turn in was the only Jedi on the ship."

"That sounds like a good idea." Mira said to him. "When do I go?"

Mical turned to her and said "You? I was talking about me."

Mira said in a somewhat exasperated tone "You have got to be kidding. I'm the one that knows the most about these types of bounty hunters."

"Both of you are totally out of line." said Jolee "If anyone is to go, it shall be me. I am old. It is better to risk my life than yours."

"Enough!" said Revan. "Nobody is going to be handed over like property to those bastards. I refuse to force any member of my crew to risk their lives in such a reckless manner. On the other hand, maybe I should be the one to-"

"No." all twenty-nine other members of the crew answered in unison. All, that is, except HK-47. He said "Interruption: No."

"We're not turning you or anyone else over to them, Revan." Carth told his captain. "Each and every one of us non-Jedi would rather die fighting than live because of some unnecessary sacrifice made by our friends."

Everyone who was not a Jedi agreed with him.

Revan smiled at his crew for their dedication. Then he thought more about a plan and told them "Then it looks like we have two options: Run, or fight."

"Beep-beep bop bee bop beep-beeeeeeeep (I don't think we can outrun them)." bleeped T3-M4.

"T3's right." Hanharr agreed, talking in his own language. "I remember the _Gocowera_. It is as fast as almost any Republic ship."

"Plus, it will eventually catch up with us." declared Juhani. "I examined the star charts. That vessel just came from Nar Shaddaa."

"Besides, Jedi don't run." said Brianna the Handmaiden, grinning.

"Nor do soldiers or warriors." added Canderous.

"Then it looks like we are going to have to fight them." Revan concluded, though somewhat reluctant of the fact.

"Statement: Master, that is exactly what I hoped you would say." stated HK-47.

Hanharr told Revan all the information he knew about the _Gocowera_: It was a ruthless and widely feared slaver vessel. Its crew was composed solely of Devaronians, Weequays, Rodians, and Trandoshans. Its standard crew listed 163, all bounty hunters and slavers. But fortunately for the crew of the _Ebon Hawk_, the _Gocowera _and its crew each had their own weaknesses.

The members of the _Ebon Hawk_ crew then began formulating a plan to defend themselves from the _Gocowera _and her crew. After about twenty minutes of preparing, they had arrived at their plan.

"Alright, before we do this, let's go over the plan one last time." Revan announced as he brought up a hologram of the _Gocowera _on the emitter. "Bao-Dur, you and BD-002 will design a program that will disrupt the _Gocowera_'s sensors and targeting systems and then transmit it to the _Gocowera _when I give the signal. Then T3-M4, I need you and the other three utility droids to get on the roof of the ship and position yourselves in front of the engines and quadlasers. T3, while you and T1-N1 work on the engines to smooth them out and help Atton and Carth move the ship with more agility, 3CFD and T3-H8 will operate on the quadlasers. We need them to fire as accurately as possible."

Revan then turned to Canderous and Mandalore and told them "I want both of you on weapons. Based on what Hanharr and Mira have told me, there is a weakness in the ship's shields right here-" he pointed at one spot on the hologram, almost at the center of the ship. "That should cripple their hyperdrive. The outcome of this skirmish will rely on the participation of us all, however."

Everyone memorized their role in the plan. Finally, everybody got into position. Bao-Dur was in the communications array, preparing to transmit the virus to the computer of the _Gocowera_. Carth and Atton were in the cockpit, preparing to have the _Ebon Hawk _swing around and confront the _Gocowera_. The four utility droids were in place on the roof. T3-M4 was at the console to the port engine, T1-N1 was at the console for the starboard engine, 3CFD was at the console for the port quadlasers, and T3-H8 was at the console for the starboard quadlasers. On the inside of the ship, Canderous and Mandalore were at the turret relays by the utility lift and had the laser cannons directed at the weak spot in the _Gocowera_'s shields. Even though they were in auto-lock mode, the droids were still giving the turrets' operations systems their attention because the weak spot was very small.

When they only had three minutes left until their deadline, Revan was in the communications array with Bao-Dur and Ratrin. Revan had the latter of the two open a channel to the _Gocowera_. Then he announced "This is the Captain of the _Ebon Hawk_. Perhaps we can come to some form of negotiation."

"You can negotiate by handing over the Jedi." spoke Captain Oryteu in his native language. "We do not care about anything else you may possess. Give us the Jedi, and the rest of you may go about your business without our hostility. Protect the Jedi, and you shall perish with them."

Revan gave Bao-Dur two nods, which signaled him to transmit the virus to the _Gocowera_. After pressing a few buttons on the panel in front of him, he said to Revan "The virus has already invaded their computers, Revan. Now we just wait."

On the bridge of the _Gocowera_, one of the Trandoshans that had been posted at a laser turret station spoke in his own language to the captain "Sir, our targeting system is malfunctioning. My lock on their engines has been severed."

Then a Weequay who had been managing the sensors spoke in his language "Our sensors have gone offline. We have no way to determine what that ship may be planning next."

The captain just stared at the _Ebon Hawk _through the huge viewscreen and swore in his indigenous language under his breath.

Ratrin contacted the utility droids, the pilots, and the gunners all at once and Revan shouted "NOW!"

Then the droids went to work eliminating any errors in the matrices of the engines and weapons operations. Atton brought the _Ebon Hawk _and swung the agile ship around over the top of the _Gocowera_. Revan shouted to Canderous and Mandalore "Fire!"

Canderous and Mandalore fired repeatedly at the weak spot in the _Gocowera_'s shields. A huge burst coming from the inside of the slaver vessel told them that they had succeeded in disabled their enemies' hyperdrive.

Back on the _Gocowera _bridge, a Rodian announced in his aboriginal language "Captain, they have destroyed the hyperdrive. But the engines are still able to give us thrusters."

Every member of the _Gocowera _crew always spoke in the language of his people, but they understood each other's languages as well as Galactic Basic. Most workers on Nar Shaddaa had found it useful to learn a variety of languages, especially Galactic Basic. That was, after all, the most commonly spoken language in the galaxy.

Captain Oryetu ordered his Weequay helmsman "Do not let them get away. We will be far richer than all the other slavers if we succeed in capturing these Jedi."

Oryetu turned to the men on turrets and told them "Target them manually; we have to prevent them from going into hyperspace."

Then he turned to the Rodian and instructed him "Have seven teams of eight men each report to the shuttle bay. Then order them to launch and engage the _Ebon Hawk _in battle before it can escape. Once they have disabled the ship, tell them to board it as well."

The Rodian nodded and went to organize seven teams of men. All fifty-six of them arrived in the shuttle bay armed with blasters and vibroblades. They got into the shuttles and one by one, they departed the bay. All nine of the shuttles started accelerating their speed as they flew towards the _Ebon Hawk_.

In the main hold, Bastila, Mission, and a few other members of the crew were monitoring navigations on the hologram emitter. Mission announced to Mona "The _Gocowera _has just launched seven shuttles. They are closing on us fast!"

The _Ebon Hawk _was hit again by the laser cannons from the _Gocowera_. Mona shouted "We have to do something about this fast."

Just then, GO-TO floated in front of her. He announced to her "I have a plan."

They summoned Revan and GO-TO began to explain his idea: "The _Gocowera _uses a distinctive type of energy-based weaponry. It is very similar to our own in one specific way: it will discharge upon contact with anything, be it matter or energy. I believe that if I can time it just right, I can have one huge shot fired at their main cannon just as they are firing. When their turret discharges, their blast of energy will make contact with ours just before the former leaves the cannon. That will then set off a chain reaction in the ship's power system that will ultimately destroy the ship."

"Make it so, GO-TO." ordered Revan.

GO-TO then went to work on setting up a program that would synchronize itself to the turrets of the _Gocowera_. He created to fire when it detected a power buildup generating in its main artillery bank. He engaged the program and then everybody looked at the _Gocowera _by the use of a screen on the wall.

On the bridge of the _Gocowera_, the Captain ordered the head gunner "Target their cockpit, charge the main cannon for twenty seconds, and then fire."

The Trandoshan went to work on this procedure very quickly. When the charge on the main cannon had been building up for seventeen seconds, the laser turret on the _Ebon Hawk _fired at the cannon's opening. When the cannon discharged, the laser blast was at the entrance. Finally, the two bursts of energy collided with each other. That triggered an explosion in the cannon, which triggered another explosion in the artillery banks, which set off a series of explosions all over the ship. Finally, the _Gocowera_ itself exploded completely, killing all 107 crewmen that had been onboard at the time of the explosion.

However, all 56 of the men that had gotten onto the shuttles were still alive. The pilots of each ship flew in the general direction of the _Ebon Hawk_. Despite the fact that the rest of their crew was dead, they still had their minds set on the profits they would make from these bounties. Each of them simply viewed the loss of the rest of their crewmen as an increase in their own earnings.


	7. Welcome Party

Back in the main hold of the _Ebon Hawk_, Hudrow was monitoring the shuttles. He announced to Revan "Sir, the shuttles are gaining on us! It would appear as though they are planning to board the ship!"

Revan shouted towards the turret relay stations "Canderous, Mandalore, make every shot count!"

Canderous and Mandalore fired repeatedly on the shuttles. Finally, one of Canderous's shots struck the engines of one of them. That ship was crippled in space. Canderous then concentrated his fire on the small ship and fired. After being hit three more times, the shuttle exploded in a huge burst. Canderous grunted in satisfaction upon seeing his target destroyed.

Mira then told Revan about how the shuttles from the _Gocowera _each had a crew of eight with three assassin droids in the hold of each of them. They were HK-21s, and the sentient line of assassin droids did not come into play until the HK-33 series. Therefore, unlike the droids in the crew of the _Ebon Hawk_, the droids from the crew of the _Gocowera _did not possess consciousness. For that reason, they were not counted as crewmembers like the organic beings.

"At least the droids may be easy to handle because they are not even aware of their own existence." as B-4D4 optimistically noted.

Mandalore managed to hit another of the shuttles right on the main stabilizers. Subsequently, the stabilizers malfunctioned and caused the shuttle to blow up.

At that point the screen in the main hold was displaying the five remaining escape pods and how their proximity to the _Ebon Hawk _was steadily increasing.

"Atton, do we have the hyperdrive?" called Revan to the cockpit.

"Negative!" answered Atton. "That agile move we made a few moments ago disrupted our link to the hyperspace continuum."

"Keep firing!" shouted Mona. "They can end up boarding the ship!"

"We're too late!" shouted Canderous. "Two of them are already out of weapons range! There's nothing to stop them from boarding the ship now!"

"We need a new strategy." Davik speculated.

"Anybody have any good ideas?" asked Visas. Nobody spoke for a while. The room was totally quiet. Finally, Jolee announced "I have one. It's a strategy we used back in the old days whenever the Sith made spontaneous inspections of cargo carriers and transports to search for Jedi."

As the shuttles got closer and closer to the exit area around the utility lift, Jolee explained their plan.

Finally, all the shuttles were on the top of the ship. Each of the shuttles had a small trapdoor on its floor. One of them linked up to the utility lift door and deposited its crew into the lift. Once the door to the lift was sealed, the shuttle moved away from the door and allowed for the other four to deliver their crews in the same manner. But the last shuttle had remained in place on the lift after its crew had been deposited.

Pretty soon, fifty Weequays, Rodians, Devaronians, Trandoshans, and HK-21s were inside the ship. One person from each shuttle had remained behind as the pilots.

On the inside of the _Ebon Hawk_, the remaining crewmembers from the _Gocowera _were storming through every room. However, they found no one else inside the ship. They searched persistently throughout every room, but there was not a single member of the crew to be seen anywhere.

"Where are they?" asked a Trandoshan.

"They could not have just sneaked off the ship without our notice." said a Devaronian.

"They must be here somewhere." a Weequay concluded. "There are no missing escape pods."

Below their feet, the _Ebon Hawk _crew had been hiding in the smugglers hold. Bao-Dur was tapping into the ship's electrical power source and while he worked, Canderous said somewhat edgily to Jolee "**This **is your plan, old man?"

Jolee shrugged and said "It always worked on the Sith. It's bound to work on a few desperate bounty hunters and slavers."

Bao-Dur finished operating on the power source and said to Mona "I'm ready, General."

"Do it." Mona ordered him.

Bao-Dur then significantly increased the amount of the power that was going to the ship's lighting system. Above them, all the lights on the _Ebon Hawk _increased to their maximum capacity. All of the organic crewmembers of the _Gocowera_ quickly moved to cover their eyes. Jolee then gave Bao-Dur the signal to lower the lights after fifteen seconds, and then he shouted "NOW!"

All but three of the twenty-six hiding members of the _Ebon Hawk _crew (the four utility droids were still on the roof of the ship) jumped out from the floor with their weapons in hand. Lightsabers were activated, vibroblades were drawn, and blaster rifles were charged.

The only three members of the crew who were not rising to the surface to fight were B-4D4, Bastila, and Mona. B-4D4's programming strictly forbade him from killing. Bastila and Mona had remained in the smugglers holds at their husbands' requests, and obviously because of their "conditions."

The first member of the _Gocowera _crew to regain his eyesight was a Weequay. Slightly disoriented, he saw a long thin blue light quickly approaching him. The last thing the Weequay ever saw was Revan swinging his lightsaber at his neck.

All over the ship, the bounty hunters and their droids were getting massacred. A Trandoshan took a swing with his vibroblade at Juhani. She swung around and impaled him with her yellow lightsaber. Behind her, a Devaronian had his blaster rifle pointed at her. But Visas sensed him and used Force Grip on him. The Devaronian dropped his weapon and grasped his neck with both hands. Within a few moments, Visas had asphyxiated him to death. His body dropped listlessly to the ground.

BD-002 floated over the battle and targeted his special electrical weapon on the nearest HK-21 unit. After charging it up for a few moments, he released a powerful bolt of energy onto the droid. The droid short-circuited and crumbled apart.

Bao-Dur approached a Rodian and wrapped his left arm- the artificial one- around his neck. With one swift move, he snapped the Rodian's neck, killing him instantly. Davik and Hudrow had ganged up on two Trandoshans. For the entire battle, they just continued punching the bounty hunters, even after they had already beaten them to death. One Weequay waved his vibrosword at Brianna. She jumped around him and waved her blue lightsaber at his throat. The Weequay's head fell to the ground.

The two Wookiees were particularly enjoying themselves. Zaalbar took two Rodians by their collars and slammed their heads together. The overwhelming force killed both of them. Zaalbar roared in triumph. Across the room, Hanharr had one Devaronian in his arms. He had one hand on the intruder's neck, and the other on his legs. Then Hanharr pulled his hands away from each other until he almost tore the Devaronian apart. He threw the corpse onto the ground and went for his next target.

GO-TO flew up behind a Trandoshan and then selected a flamethrower from his weapons' banks. Then he got a lock on the Trandoshan and unleashed a huge stream of fire. The Trandoshan shouted in agony as he burned to death.

A few assassin droids went into the cargo hold. There was HK-47, alone and gripping his blaster rifle. Upon seeing them, he said "Statement: You have trespassed onto our ship. Bounty hunters and their droids are not welcome here."

One of the HK-21s said "Notification: Surrender or you will be destroyed."

HK-47 said "Unnecessary addendum: I do not surrender. I eradicate all potential threats to myself and my crewmates."

"Second Warning: You have twenty seconds to surrender." said the HK-21 unit.

"Eager Threat: Within twenty seconds, we'll be salvaging your remains for functional spare parts." HK-47 told the droids.

"Abrupt Mandate: All units, open f-" Before the HK-21 unit could finish giving his instruction, HK-47 lifted his blaster rifle and shot the lower-grade model in the chest. The droid's main processing unit malfunctioned and then the droid dropped to the ground.

The other two droids that had accompanied him said simultaneously "Request: Restate the ord-" Then they were shot to pieces by HK-47. HK-47 then lowered his gun and said "Satisfied Boast: One must never allow inferior HK models to attempt to best a model which is 26 grades ahead of them."

Right then a Weequay ran into the cargo hold. HK-47 raised his rifle and said "Addenum: Ooo! An organic adversary. An even better challenge for me."

Within the next ten seconds, the floor of the cargo hold was stained in several places with Weequay blood.

Kreia performed a particularly nasty trick on a Trandoshan. She used her meditation powers to look into his brain, and, using the Force, she severed the connection made between his nervous system and his brain. Literally unable to move anything, the Trandoshan collapsed onto the ground. Kreia just walked up to him and plunged part of her green lightsaber into his chest.

Canderous clubbed a Devaronian with his huge rifle, causing him to drop to the ground. Before he even had a chance to get up, the Devaronian was shot in the chest ten times by Canderous.

Canderous had been standing right next to the utility lift then. He put his gun over his back and stepped on it. He activated the lift and went up. He arrived in the back of the shuttle that had remained attached to the _Ebon Hawk_. A few meters in front of him, the Rodian pilot was sitting in his chair. Without turning around, he asked his visitor "Have we taken control of the ship."

Canderous walked closer to the Rodian and when he was just two feet away from him answered "Not quite."

The Rodian looked over his shoulder and, when he realized that the person who had entered the shuttle was not one of his colleagues, jumped up and turned around while simultaneously drawing his blaster pistol.

Before he could aim the pistol properly at Canderous, it was quickly knocked out of his hand by the Mandalorian. Then Canderous fired half of dozen shots into the Rodian's upper chest. As the Rodian collapsed, Canderous grabbed him by the shirt and threw him across the shuttle. The Rodian groaned when he hit the ground and died quickly.

On the other side of the _Ebon Hawk_, Ratrin and Carth fought their way to the communications room. When they finally got there, there were a Weequay and a Trandoshan in the room. Carth raised his blaster and fired three shots at the Trandoshan. All three of them struck him in the forehead. The Trandoshan collapsed against one of the control panels. The Weequay then went for Ratrin, but Ratrin pushed the Weequay into the wall and stabbed him twice in the chest cavity with his vibrosword.

Once the communications room was secure, Ratrin approached the main communications panel and contacted the shuttle that was still attached to the ship. Carth stood next to him, and said "Carth, to shuttle. Canderous, are you there?"

Canderous was sitting in the pilot seat of the said shuttle. He replied onto the communications frequency "I hear you loud and clear, Carth. The shuttle on top is secure."

"Good work." said Carth. "Stay by the trapdoor and stop anyone who tries to make their way back up to the shuttle."

"Understood." Canderous acknowledged.

Carth then ordered Ratrin to contact the utility droids, who were still on the roof of the ship. As Retrin went to work on this, an HK-21 unit came to the doorway of the communications room. The droid pointed his rifle at them. But before he could fire, Mical noticed him. Mical used Force Speed to charge at the droid, and once he was right by his side, he severed both his arms from the rest of his body with his purple lightsaber. The broken droid then collapsed onto the ground.

Carth turned to see Mical standing over the wrecked unit. Carth thanked him for his assistance, as did Ratrin. Mical just jokingly commented "I simply thought it would be a major embarrassment to be killed by a droid that doesn't even possess consciousness."

"I couldn't agree more." Ratrin said as he continued to work on setting up the communications line to the utility droids.

In other rooms of the ship, the fighting continued. Mission took her two blaster pistols and shot a Devaronian four times with each one. He dropped flatly onto the ground. Mandalore took his heavy blaster shotgun and shot a Weequay in the head. He almost created a huge hole in the side of the Weequay's head. Jolee slashed a Rodian with his green lightsaber. An HK-21 unit had his blaster pointed directly at the old man's head, but this was noticed by Mira just in time. She used Force push on the droid. The droid went flying across the main hold and smashed into over a dozen pieces when it hit the wall. Trask stood against another wall and fired at every enemy he had a clear view of. Within ten seconds, he had taken out a Devaronian, a Trandoshan, and an HK-21 unit.

A Rodian discovered the compartment where Bastila, Mona, and B-4D4 were hiding. He pointed his blaster rifle at them. He was just about to fire when a large thin beam of an orange lightsaber impaled his chest. Atton had just stabbed him straight through his heart. The Rodian died before Atton pulled his lightsaber out of him. All Mona, Bastila, and B-4D4 could say was "Thanks." He just nodded at them and resumed fighting.

Back in the communications room, Ratrin had just finished setting up the line to the utility droids. Carth then spoke to the droids, telling them that he had a very specific plan. He gave the droids very specific orders. When they were ready, Carth initiated the plan.

All four of the utility droids approached the back of the ship and each one of them opened up a conduit to the energy converters of the engines. While they did this, Canderous contacted the other shuttles and requested that they move closer to the _Ebon Hawk_. He used a voice scrambler in order to sound like a Rodian. When the shuttles were close enough, each one of the utility droids unleashed a massive electromagnetic discharge onto a different shuttle. This action disabled the shuttles and killed their pilots at the same time.

Finally, after just thirteen minutes of fighting, each and every one of the remaining crewmembers from the _Gocowera _was dead. As was anticipated, not a single member of the _Ebon Hawk _crew had perished in the battle.

The victors made quick use of the bodies of their enemies. After searching them for anything useful- things such as credits, weapons, and gadgets- they dumped the bodies into the shuttle that had been docked. After dumping seven bodies onto the shuttle, they disconnected it from the utility lift. Then they boarded the other shuttles and dumped the remaining twenty-eight bodies onto them, seven to each. All of the organic beings of the _Gocowera _had been deposited onto the shuttles. The HK-21s had been kept for their spare parts.

After all the mess had been cleaned up, the entire _Ebon Hawk _crew was back in the main hold and they had become relatively calm again. Revan stood near the center of the room and told them "It is imperative now that we find some allies. I have a bad feeling that those bounty hunters aren't going to be the last ones to try to hunt us. But we have to prevent a confrontation like that from happening again if at all possible. That does, however, seem very unlikely, but all the same I am hoping that it will not occur again. We cannot allow these sorts of events to delay our task."

Revan paused for a moment, and then he spoke to his crew in a slightly informal manner "Everybody needs to get some rest. We're going to Nar Shaddaa, and then it's uninterrupted space travel and searching until further notice!"


	8. Preparations

(Back on Nar Shaddaa)

Back on Nar Shaddaa, Governor Refas was working with Constable Eliish on how they would deal with several issues regarding security on the planet. Both men were seated at a table, looking at the reports on each problem that needed to be addressed. The one that received the most attention by far was the matter of the _Ebon Hawk_.

"I still don't see how it's possible." Eliish stated in disbelief.

"How what is possible?" asked Refas.

"I don't understand how a group of bounty hunters found out that the crew manifest of the _Ebon Hawk _included Jedi." clarified Eliish. "Or even how Iomori found out either. I gave no one any permission to see the list of the crew."

"Someone must have tipped one or both of them off." Refas theorized.

"That would be unsettling, Governor," said Eliish, "but it is not unlikely."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. The two men looked at it and Refas called "Come in!"

Agent Iomori entered the room carrying another datapad with a report on it. He approached the two seated men and handed the datapad to Refas, saying "I thought you would want to know this, sir."

The Governor looked at the datapad and read the report quickly but thoroughly. After about a minute of reading, he lowered the pad and looked up. He was then staring, but at nothing in particular.

"What is it, Governor?" asked the Constable.

"The _Ebon Hawk _has destroyed the _Gocowera_." Refas answered him. "Are you certain of this, Agent Iomori?"

"Yes, sir." Iomori assured him. "Our long-range sensors have confirmed it."

"But the _Gocowera _was one of this planet's top forty most vicious and feared bounty hunter ships." Eliish commented.

"Apparently the top forty wasn't good enough." said Refas. He looked at the young deputy and told him "Sit down, Iomori."

Iomori joined his leader and his superior officer at their table. Refas then looked around at both of the men and said to them "Right now, you two and I are the only ones who know entirely about this situation. I want to keep it that way."

"We'll do our best, sir," Eliish guaranteed him, "but I doubt that it would be possible to keep anything of this quality secret for long."

"Well, we need to do our best." Refas told him. "That much is imperative. I was just given orders from Chancellor Hideroty himself."

Refas picked up a datapad from a small adjoining table and dropped it onto the table in front of the two security officers.

As they examined the report, Refas explained to them "After I insisted to learn of the nature of the _Ebon Hawk_'s presence here, the Chancellor finally decided to let me know, provided that I only share the information with you two."

After Eliish and Iomori finished reading the orders, Iomori looked up at Refas and asked him "They're searching for a renegade Sith fleet?"

"They must be resupplying themselves and preparing for their road ahead." Eliish theorized.

"That is the only reasonable explanation." agreed Refas. "It appears as though you were right, Constable. It is the Sith."

"What are we to do about this, sir?" asked Iomori. "We certainly cannot deny them landing rights. The Sith know no boundaries. They all pose a threat to us, even if they are just renegades."

"Yes, but most of the bounty hunters on this planet are not much nicer than the Sith when it comes to their treatment of Jedi." noted Eliish. "Don't forget: the _Ebon Hawk _crew is going to be here for three weeks. We have to do something to make them feel welcome and assure them that not everyone on this planet is as intolerant as the slavers and the bounty hunters."

Refas stood rubbing his chin for a few minutes, thinking of a few methods to accomplish that precedent. Then he had an idea which the other two found unorthodox, but acceptable. He told them "Perhaps on one of their first nights here, we could invite them over to my residence for dinner. Given the fact that most of the organic members of the crew are Human, they may find the company of a few more Humans to be comforting." (Refas, Eliish, and Iomori were all Human)

At this point in history, the total population of Nar Shaddaa was eighteen billion people, not including droids. Of those eighteen billion, only sixty million were Humans. Hundreds of thousands of the Humans were refugees from the old wars.

"Well, your wife always does make the best _rogolin _casserole." commented Eliish. "I suppose I could talk Zinola and our two boys into coming over to your place for dinner one night."

"We may even have a full banquet with the amount of guests we have." Iomori thought aloud. "Vriol and I could bring our daughter along to join you."

"I'm glad to see you will both join us." said Refas appreciatively. "I'll tell Tiopia what you said about her casserole, Constable. Just make sure your elder son keeps his eyes off of my daughter."

"**His **eyes off of **her**?" asked Eliish. "With all due respect, sir, **she **is the one who cannot keep **her **eyes off of him."

"I know that," agreed Refas, "but as you know, she has two protective brothers who are always keeping an eye out for their sister."

Before they got more into their personal lives, Iomori intervened in the conversation and said "Perhaps we should continue this at another time. Right now, we have yet to decide which day we should invite them to dinner."

"I'd suggest we monitor their activites for the first couple of days." advised Eliish. "If after two or three days no significant or publically noticeable trouble has emerged, I believe it would be safe to invite them at that time."

"An excellent strategy, sir." complimented Iomori.

"Let's hope so, my young deputy." said Eliish.

The two of them then went into their daily discussion of ways to further emphasize the implementation of security protocols on the planet. While they did this, Refas went to the huge window in his office and gazed outside of it. Seeing just part of the planet-wide cities inspired determination into him to ensure well-being for his people. Iomori had been one of the first thousands of Human security officers on the planet. Eliish had been the sixth Human chief of security. But Refas was the first Human to be the governor, and therefore leader, of Nar Shaddaa. In fact, in his campaign, the Hutts were somewhat apprehensive about the matter of appointing him into office. However, in the end, more of the Council of Hutts decided to give him the chance to prove his competence as leader of a planet of people with a relatively small Human population.

Refas's "chance" had begun almost four years earlier. He did not want to let something such as this damage it. If he were to fail, it would harm the Hutts' view of not only him, but of all Human politicans on Nar Shaddaa. The treatment of his entire race on the planet would rest in the events of the next three weeks. He felt that he could make the right decision, but in the back of his mind, he still pondered on what the right decision would have to be.


	9. Preliminary Reconnaissance

On the _Ebon Hawk_, everyone had calmed down from the fight that had just taken place. Compared to the horrors they had all faced several years earlier- the destruction of Taris, the quest for the Star Forge, the battle of the Star Forge, the destruction of Peragus, the search for Lost Jedi, the battle of Telos, and the second destruction of Malachor V- this was merely an exercise for the crew to hone their abilities in combat and tactics.

The _Ebon Hawk _was less than an hour away from Nar Shaddaa. Most of the crewmembers were in the dormitories getting some rest.

Revan, Bastila, and Mical were not among them. The three of them were in the medical bay. Bastila was lying down on the examination table with her hands on her lower chest. Revan was seated next to her with his hand on her shoulder. Mical was performing Bastila's weekly maternal examination on her. He monitored the movements in her uterus, as well as the unborn child's own heart rate.

When he was finished, he announced to the couple "Your baby is doing quite well. I'd say it's perhaps another month until he or she arrives."

"Thank you for your help, Mical." said Revan graciously.

"It's always a pleasure to help you, sir." Mical returned. Then he left the married couple alone in the medical bay while he went to file his report with T1-N1 in the archives banks.

Revan then just smiled at his wife. But he noticed a look of anxiety on her face. He sensitively asked her "Is everything alright, Bastila?"

She answered her husband "Yes, everything is well. But… what if I go into labor while we are still on Nar Shaddaa? I do not wish for our child to be born on that smugglers' moon."

"Nor do I." Revan told her. "And in the event that that does happen, I'll get you onto the_ Ebon Hawk _and to the nearest civilized planet there is. Actually, Alderaan is not too far away. Perhaps that would meet your satisfaction."

Bastila smiled at her husband and told him "That would be wonderful."

They just stayed in the room together until Carth appeared in the doorway. He said to them "I thought I should let you know. We've arrived at Nar Shaddaa. Atton is about to land the ship."

Revan then helped Bastila up and they went to wake up the rest of the crew. Once everybody was ready, Atton landed the ship onto the same pad he had landed it on six years earlier. It felt so amazing to be back on Nar Shaddaa after so long. While they were there, he was hoping to stop by the Entertainment Promenade at least once. However, he was going to be careful around there this time around. The last time he had gone there, he had been assaulted by a pair of vicious Twi'lek bounty hunters. Fortunately for him, he had already begun his Jedi training with Mona as his mentor. He easily defeated them both, but encountered them again on the _Visionary _when the crew of the _Ebon Hawk _had gone to rescue Mona from Goto's minions.

After they had landed, Revan had everybody assemble in the main hold again. He had them recite their roles on the planet and who their partner was. Due to the nature of the planet's attitude towards the Jedi and certain members of the Republic, they would be traveling in pairs so as not to be confronted with trouble alone.

After they had gone through the plan again, they broke off into their four teams. The team of six- Ratrin, 3CFD, T3-H8, Trask, HK-47, and Hudrow- went to work on monitoring and surveying the ship while the other twenty-four members of the crew went off in search of equipment, information, and allies.

In the town square, the first team of eight- Carth, Juhani, Zaalbar, GO-TO, Mira, T1-N1, Bao-Dur, and BD-002- paired up and went in search of equipment.

The second team of eight- Mona, Atton, Visas, B-4D4, Mandalore, Mission, Jolee, and Mical- paired up and headed to the refugee locality in search of information.

The third team of eight- Revan, Bastila, Canderous, T3-M4, Davik, Brianna, Hanharr, and Kreia- paired up and made their way to the landing docks in search of allies.

Back in the town square, T1-N1 and GO-TO were in the droid shop discussing prices and equipment with the Sullustan manager. He was more than happy to grant their requests for them. He also provided them with a few unregistered ID signatures for the _Ebon Hawk_ in the event that they would need to disguise it from more hostile bounty hunters.

Juhani and Zaalbar were searching for some more provisions for the ship's supply inventories. Juhani made sure that Zaalbar did not purchase any Gamorrean food. She knew very well why Revan had given them explicit instructions not to buy any of it; it had been well-established that Gamorreans and Wookiees were the only ones who could "stomach the slop." Those had been his exact words, as well. Quite frankly, except for Hanharr, the rest of the crew agreed with him, including the droids, whose idea of a decent snack was the power produced by a systems recharging unit.

BD-002 and his meticulous master Bao-Dur were negotiating with Geeda. Because of the trade lines that Mona had helped the female Rodian establish with Telos and Onderon, she had become a thriving merchant. She even had her own building. But she still preferred doing business in the street out in the open.

Geeda supplied Bao-Dur and his remote with a variety of useful gear for utilization on the _Ebon Hawk_. Everything they bought she gave them for half-price to compensate for what they had done for her six years earlier.

Carth and Mira were strolling around the streets, conducting business with certain people who had ideal equipment on sale. About a hundred feet away from them, a Human civilian was monitoring them very closely. He had been watching their movements and taking notes on their activities ever since they had arrived on the landing pad.

His suspicious behavior caught Mira's eye. She glanced directly at him, but by the time she could focus clearly on him, he had stopped paying attention and was acting casually.

The person she and Carth had been doing business with noticed that Mira was not paying attention. He asked her "Is everything alright?"

Carth looked at Mira and noticed she was staring at the man who had been watching them. But he had not noticed the man. He put his hand on her shoulder and asked her "Is something wrong, Mira?"

She answered "No, Carth. Everything is fine. I just thought I saw… forget it."

They went back to negotiating, but soon the man continued to spy at them from a safe distance.

In the refugee zone, the sentries had given the entire group from the _Ebon Hawk _clearance to enter the refugee encampment. One of the guards assured them that he would arrange a private meeting with Saquesh for Mona and Atton. They followed him through the service entrance to meet him.

Everyone else went to the refugee center and began asking around for insight on recent activities in the area. Even though the grand majority of the refugees were forbidden from leaving the camps, there were very few pieces of news that did not reach them.

Jolee and Mandalore looked around for some of their old war buddies. As it turned out, they were both successful in their search. Jolee encountered a few people he believed had perished in the wars or had simply succumbed to old age. But it appeared that they, like him, were just too stubborn to die. Mandalore met some of the men whom had served under him during the attack on Telos. They had fled when their army contingents had taken heavy losses. They expected that Mandalore would feel disgraced by them, but he actually felt sympathy for them. He had them repay his forgiveness with information about any rumors or stories that were going around pertaining to the Sith. They were more than willing to comply with his request.

Mission and Mical were searching for people that would provide them with what they needed to know. Mical kept his eyes open for any new refugees. There were quite a lot of them, but their residential space had partially increased due to the word Mona had put in for them to the Exchange. Mission told some jokes that made even the most depressed refugees laugh. Consequently, the refugees gave her and Mical plenty of information about recent activity in that region of space.

Visas and B-4D4 were busying themselves with investigating for knowledge about the _Ebon Hawk_ crew's personal conflicts. Visas found several individuals who gave her insight on Sith activity. Recently a Sith fleet had passed through that sector of space, but their precise destination was unknown. However, some people provided speculation for Visas. B-4D4 met more than a few skilled engineers. They were very affable to share their knowledge of reserving power for travel and exploration.

Around one corner, one of the refugees was watching Mission and Mical closely. He was taking notes on their movements, and monitoring them like the civilian outside had been watching Mira and Carth. Mical noticed him, but acted as if he saw nothing.

Mona and Atton were in Saquesh's office with the Exchange boss himself, asking about various events that had recently taken place. To their disappointment, they discovered that the bounty on Jedi was at its peak price. However, there were few bounty hunters left who would go to the trouble the _Gocowera _went to in order to acquire the bounty. Despite all the unpleasant news, Saquesh did provide them with some pleasant information about certain "limits" set on the bounty on Jedi.

On the landing docks, the team there was having less luck with their objectives than the other teams had with theirs. But they still had some fortune land in their general direction.

Davik and Brianna were meeting Vogga the Hutt in his office. Vogga was impressed to discover that the infamous Davik Kang had survived the very destruction of Taris itself. Vogga's admiration of Davik's ability to feign death earned the latter some prestige in negotiating with the former. But it was not quite enough. Fortunately Brianna was able to convince Vogga to fully hear out Davik and his proposition. Her methods of doing so may have been rather unorthodox, but they still accomplished the goal.

In that same building, T3-M4 was investigating the droid warehouse and researching several friendly coalitions that operated on Nar Shaddaa. Canderous was at the entrance to the factory, asking the manager about some of the more benign species which resided on the planet. Both of them ended up with extensive lists.

In the flophouse, Kreia was investigating several people who appeared to be of good nature. She easily got their attention and they told her that they would consider working with the _Ebon Hawk _crew against the bounty hunter threat. Hanharr was trying his hardest not to turn violent on the people he was interviewing. Fortunately for both him and them, he had had plenty of experience in the last six years to control his temper and he was able to retain his patience when he spoke to some representatives from the organizations he was seeking out.

When Kreia left one group of people, she could sense a mind of a person in the flophouse. That person was very close by, and he was watching her and Hanharr. She decided to act normally and monitor his behavior as she went on to another group of people

Outside the entrance of the Jekk'Jekk'Tarr, Revan and Bastila's meeting with Yossev had just begun. They were discussing possible ways to at least temporarily rescind the bounty on Jedi. Ever since the war with the Sith, Revan and his crew had become increasingly more wealthy, but they were modest in their appearances and spending all the same. They offered Yossev a substantial amount of money to cancel the bounty. He was tempted, but he told them that stopping the bounty in such a way would initiate a wave of conflict within the very factions of the bounty hunters themselves. However, he did provide a bit of comforting news to them about a certain boundary on the bounty.

Back at the _Ebon Hawk_, Ratrin was in the communications array, which doubled as the camera room. He had an open channel to all the members of the away teams, but nothing had been transmitted to or from the _Ebon Hawk _yet.

T3-H8 was in the engine room running a diagnostic on the efficiency of the engines. So far, no discerning variables in their operations had shown up. 3CFD was on the roof of the ship, resealing the conduits that had been opened from the encounter with the _Gocowera_.

Trask was maintaining his position at the top of the exit ramp. HK-47 was at the bottom of the ramp, patrolling it and keeping an eye out for anyone any threats to the ship.

Hudrow was conducting his inspection of the ship for any faulty equipment. He had found a few defective energy cells. He made his way to the communications array so that Ratrin could contact the team in the town square. He gave Ratrin the list and was about to leave when he caught a glimpse of the camera set outside the ship. It was showing the path from the landing pad to the business district.

He asked his friend "Ratrin, what is that?"

"What is what, Hudrow?" asked Ratrin.

Hudrow pointed out the part on the screen that caught his attention. Ratrin magnified it and they saw what was there. A man was peeking around the corner and watching them. He appeared to be studying the ship.

"Should we inform the away teams about this?" asked Ratrin.

"No, not yet." Hudrow replied. "We should spend some time studying him while he studies us."

Ratrin contacted HK-47 and asked him "HK, do you see that figure at the end of the path?"

"Answer: Yes, I do see a man looking around the corner." HK-47 replied. "He seems to be spying on us. Quick Clarification: Perhaps he is simply studying us. Query: Should I handle this meatbag?"

"No, don't do that." Hudrow spoke into the communications line. "Just keep patrolling the front of the ship and pretend as if you did not notice him. If he is working for a bounty hunter organization, the last thing we need is for him to call in for reinforcements."

"Irritated Response: Very well." HK-47 confirmed the order. "I will keep patrolling the bottom of the ship and act casual so that the meatbag down the walkway can scrutinize us."

Later, the entire crew had returned to the _Ebon Hawk _and they were assembled in the main hold, preparing to discuss their discoveries.

"We have enough supplies and gear to last us about a year in total." Carth proudly announced.

"Saquesh told us that most of the bounty hunters on this planet do not have the resources to go to the lengths that the _Gocowera _went to in order to acquire a Jedi bounty." Atton told them.

"We found out something even more pleasing than that." Revan told them. "Right now, Bastila and Mona will not be targets of the bounty hunters. It is illegal in any bounty hunt for the target to be a pregnant woman. Any bounty hunter who violates this parameter is executed."

"It's a good thing we'll be long off this planet before the dates Mona and I are due." noted Bastila.

After they covered the grand majority of what equipment, information, and allies they had achieved, they moved onto matters of more concern.

"Earlier today, in the town square," Mira was telling her crewmates, "Carth and I were doing business with a merchant on the street. About thirty yards away, I could have sworn that I saw somebody spying on us. When I looked over at the man who I believed that accomplishing this, I saw that same man doing nothing to suggest he was watching us. But that doesn't mean he was not simply eschewing our suspicions."

"That's rather odd." Mical spoke in. "Today in the refugee zone, one of the refugees appeared to be doing the same thing to us. However, now that I recall, he did seem to be in better physical condition than the other refugees. In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say he had just come from the surface."

"Interesting." Kreia added in the conversation. "In the flophouse, I sensed someone was watching us. Whoever he was, he did not appear to have hostile intentions. Then again, he could have been a bounty hunter with the ability to resist Jedi mind-probes."

"I suppose we don't have to tell you what was particular about a certain person we noticed at the other end of the walkway." Ratrin assumed. "He was peaking around the corner and watching the ship."

"Something very strange is going on around here." Revan concluded. "Our first day on Nar Shaddaa and already people are spying on us. However, we do not even know whether or not these people are on our side or not."

"What should we do?" asked Carth.

After Revan thought about this matter for a while, he answered with "We'll keep conducting our reconnaissance operations for the next few days. If these men show up again, we won't intervene the first time they do. But if they show back up a second time, we'll take some action. In spite of this, I do not want to take any violent offensive action. We'll just approach them and question them about their activities. Does everyone understand what I am asking?"

There were murmurs of agreement all over the room.


	10. Confronting The Spy

Over the next few days, the _Ebon Hawk _crew continued to conduct their business on the smuggler's moon. They were also very wary of the people who were spying on them. But they paid no heed to them and just went about their business.

Finally, on their fourth day on the planet, they decided to take some action. Revan gave the crew authorization to use light and delicate force. He refused to permit them the prerogative of using lethal force in this matter. His reasons for this were just and simple: If there was going to be a fight on the planet, the crew of the _Ebon Hawk _would not be the ones who started it.

But they were more than just willing to finish it.

In the town square, Mira walked with Carth toward the droid shop to rendezvous with GO-TO and T1-N1. Mira sensed that they were being followed. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the same man moving stealthily up behind them. Carth just whispered to her to act nonchalantly and to just keep moving. She reluctantly complied with his orders. Mira always enjoyed playing a game of cat and mouse. She just hated being the mouse. But she was very good at playing the cat.

The man peaked around the corner of the droid shop as Carth, Mira, and their droids did business with the Sullustan manager. During the discussions, Mira said "I believe I saw some equipment in the other room that we would be interested in purchasing. I will go retrieve a few of them to add them to our purchases."

Then Mira went into the next room. But she had already picked out the items the crew of the _Ebon Hawk _was interested in purchasing. She just went into the room so that she could access the back exit. She crept outside and to the front entrance. There was the man who was spying on her and Carth. She armed herself with her lightsaber and crept quietly to the primary entrance. Then she grabbed the man by his arm and forced him around. Startled, the man threw his hands in the air to surrender. While Mira forced him into the shop, Carth closed both entrances and GO-TO and T1-N1 guarded them.

Mira activated her orange lightsaber and held it at the man's neck. She asked sternly "Who are you and why have you been stalking us ever since we got here?"

The man, though somewhat intimidated by Mira's threat, swiftly removed a small hand-held datapad from his jacket and showed it to her. He told her "I am Mediator Jile Tulkonin of the planet security division. I've been given orders to investigate you and your activities."

Mira examined the datapad and found that it was authentic. She noted something and added to the mediator's answer "From the governor himself, no less. Why did he order you to spy on us? Was it to ensure that we did not incite any trouble?"

"No, he had these measures taken to ensure your safety." Tulkonin answered. It was then that Carth noticed a certain emblem on the man's jacket. He assumed "You are a member of the Darcipient Order?"

"Yes, I am." said Tulkonin. "The governor wanted his best men out here. That would be us. He entrusted my colleagues and me to monitor your behavior."

"What for?" demanded Carth.

"He wants to know who he is inviting to dinner." was the mediator's reply.

"Dinner?" said Mira, a tad bemused by Tulkonin's answer.

"Yes, dinner." confirmed Mediator Tulkonin. "The Governor condemns the bounty placed on Jedi, and he knows of the reasons for why you are on this planet. As a gesture of goodwill, he has decided to invite all of you to his house to discuss a secret coalition."

"Why did he have you spy on us first?" asked Mira.

"He wanted us to ensure that you would not start any fighting, even in self-defense."

"Did we pass your test?" asked Carth.

"I'd say so." said Tulkonin.

"Let him go, Mira." Carth ordered the young Mandalorian warrior.

Slowly, Mira took her hand off of Tulkonin and deactivated her lightsaber. As the man favored his arm, Mira said "I'm sorry if I seem somewhat on edge. We had a rather unpleasant encounter with some of the locals before we even arrived on the planet."

"So we've heard." Tulkonin, his eyes still focused exclusively on the lightsaber handle. "We had been told that the vessel _Gocowera _had been destroyed by its crew's latest targets. We had no idea that the crew's targets were actually Jedi."

"Not all of us are Jedi." Carth corrected him. Gesturing at Mira, he said "She is, but I'm not."

"How many of you are there?" asked Mira.

"In total or just the ones assigned to investigate you?" said Tulkonin

"The latter." Mira clarified.

Tulkonin stood thinking for a moment, and then he said "I would say approximately thirty-eight."

"But we've only noticed four of you." said Carth.

"Wow, then you must be good." Tulkonin assumed. "My team is composed of masters of disguise. As far as we know, no one has ever even noticed one of us on an assignment."

"As fascinating as this is, we would like to return to the subject at hand." Mira intervened in the conversation. "Tell the governor that we are here on a simple mission of replenishing our resources and accumulating data."

"Please tell him that we are not here to wreak havoc on the planet or to provoke any bounty hunters." Carth requested. "We wish to be on good terms with your people."

Tulkonin nodded and said "I'll go tell him that right now." Mira handed back Tulkonin's datapad and T1-N1 backed away from the primary entrance. The mediator opened the door and left without another word. This left the four _Ebon Hawk_ crewmembers alone in the droid shop with the Sullustan manager, who was just staring at them in confusion.

A few hours after this confrontation too place, the shuttles from the _Gocowera _were still adrift in space. At that time in question, a five-man Sith patrol vessel was passing through that region of space.

They were crusing along when the operations officer picked up the shuttles on his sensors. He announced to the captain "Sir, I'm picking several large objects off the port stern."

The captain moved closer to the operations officer's station and asked him "What are they?"

The operations officer replied "I'm not sure. We'll need to reduce speed to study them properly."

The captain ordered the pilot to bring them out of their current speed and stop about a hundred feet away from the shuttles.

The pilot complied and said "We're approaching the objects, sir."

The operations officer scanned the objects. Then he reported "Sir, those are wrecked shuttles."

"Confirmed." the pilot agreed. "They're dead in space and they have been out of commission for days."

"Any lifesigns?" asked the captain.

"None," answered the operations officer, "just a bunch of corpses."

The weapons officer turned to the captain and asked him "What should we do about this, captain? Should we ignore it, or should we move on?"

The captain quickly came up with a plan: "Here's what we will do: we'll board the nearest shuttle. Once we're inside of it, we can conduct a proper investigation."

The rest of the crew agreed to this arrangement. The pilot gracefully brought the ship closer to the shuttle. Then he connected the two ships together via the airlock. All the while, the operations officer monitored the status of the shuttle.

Once everyone was ready, the weapons officer provided himself, the capatain, and the science officer with weapons and the science officer brought along some equipment to study the corpses and the shuttle with.

As soon as the three men were on board, they went to studying the shuttle and its late inhabitants right away.

As the science officer ran his device over the corpses, he announced "Well, I have been able to determine that whatever disabled these shuttles, it wasn't what killed these men."

"What do you mean?" inquired the captain.

"I mean that some of these corpses have a type of residual energy charge coursing through their bodies." the science officer explained. "It does not match the energy charge that is present in the shuttle itself."

"So you believe that the first type of energy charge is what killed these men?" the captain assumed.

"It would seem that way, sir," said the science officer.

"Who or what could have done this?" the captain asked the weapons officer.

The weapons officer shrugged and said "Your guess is as good as mine, sir."

"We should bring some of these corpses back to study them," suggested the science officer. "We may also find out what the cause of death was."

"Well, we have to make it quick," said the captain, "The fleet will be moving out in a few days. We can only spare a few hours here."

The science officer replied with "A few hours is all we will need."


	11. The Invite

"So they are merely government officials?" said Revan.

"That is correct." Mira confirmed. "They were watching over us for our protection, and to fully determine our intentions."

"Well, they aren't **just **government officials." said Carth. "These men are members of the Darcipient Order."

"The Darcipient Order?" said Brianna. "Then the governor had his personal intelligence force monitoring us."

The crew had gathered back in the ship's main hold to discuss what they had discovered earlier that day. HK-47, Trask, and Mandalore were standing guard at the opened exit ramp, but they could hear everything that was going on in the main hold.

"I have heard that the new governor is a rather cordial one," said Mical, "but I never realized he was this cordial. It almost seems as if fortune just made a much needed turn in our general direction."

"We should not question our luck, Mical." said Zaalbar. Turning to Revan, he inquired "What are we to do about this subject matter?"

"Well, the governor is proposing a clandestine alliance with us," Revan speculated, "so I would suggest that we be gracious in return."

"I do sense much uneasiness on this planet." Kreia informed the rest of the crew. "Plenty of it appears to be directed at us. Whether it is anxiety over our presence or a confrontation, I am uncertain of."

"I sense it, too." said Jolee. "It is difficult for me to determine all the same."

Just then, the three members of the crew who had been standing guard came into the main hold. HK-47 announced "Statement: Master, a small group of men is crossing the platform."

Revan stood up from his chair and asked the three guards "Could you identify them?"

"They appeared to be clothed in the uniforms of the Darcipient Order." Trask reported.

"That must mean that the governor himself is less than fifty feet away from us." concluded Mission.

"How many of them are there?" asked Mona.

"I'd estimate about fifteen." said Mandalore. "They are only lightly armed, however."

"Good." said Revan. "That implies that they do not interpret us as a hostile force."

"What must we do?" inquired Visas.

Revan answered with "I will go out to meet him. Mona, Carth, you will accompany me. But no weapons. That's an order. HK, stand at the top of the ramp, but do not take any preemptive actions, even at the first genuine sign of trouble. But hopefully there won't even be one sign of trouble."

Then Revan, Mona, and Carth walked to the ramp and waited. Finally, they heard a voice call out to them "Captain Revan of the _Ebon Hawk_, please come down. We wish to negotiate."

Revan nodded at his First and Second Officers and the three of them walked down the exit ramp. They found Governor Refas himself standing just a few feet from them. Behind him were his fifteen bodyguards. They were evenly space out in three rows of five men.

Revan and Carth partly bowed to the governor. Mona made an effort to do the same, but the size of her abdomen was a bit of a complication for her. After standing back up straight, Revan said "I am pleased that you have decided to pay a visit to us here, my lord. I am Captain Revan. The two people behind me are my Executive Officer, Mona Hallahan, and my Warrant Officer, Carth Onasi."

"Even for me, it is a great prerogative to meet someone of your background." was Refas' reply.

"You honor us with your praise." Revan told the governor.

"Then on behalf of the Council of Hutts and the Darcipient Order, I officially welcome you and your crew to Nar Shaddaa." Refas gave his most genial greeting.

"We thank you profoundly, sir." said Revan. "Shall we discuss the nature of our covert union?"

"I believe that that would be a prudent step to take," admitted the governor, "but not here and now. I wish to discuss it tonight over dinner. Would you and your crew care to dine with me this night?"

"It would not only be rude to refuse such an offer," said Revan, "but it would be very undiplomatic. We gladly accept your offer. But only if we are not a burden upon your shoulders."

"It is no burden to have war heroes as visitors." Refas assured the Jedi master.

"Then what time shall we dine?" requested Revan.

"How would this evening at 1900 hours do for you?"

"That would do fine." Revan agreed.

"Very well." said the governor. "A transport ship will arrive here at 1830 hours. It will escort you to my place of residence."

"Forgive me, sir," said Revan, "but I would request that we be permitted to follow the ship with the _Ebon Hawk_."

"May I ask why?" said the governor.

"Well, the last time we entrusted the security of our ship to the government, it was stolen." Mona explained. "And the laws on that planet were much more rigid than the laws on this planet."

"I can assure you that your ship will not be stolen." Refas told them. "I will have forty of my men from the Darcipient Order itself guard the _Ebon Hawk _while you are visiting me."

Revan was still somewhat apprehensive about the arrangement, but in the end, he decided that the security planning was adequate. He announced "It is acceptable."

He, Mona, and Carth bowed again to the governor, and he bowed back.

From the outside platform of the Nar Shaddaa swoop race shop, a man had been monitoring the entire conversation through a pair of electronic binoculars. He was focusing on the governor and his men as they walked back down the crossway. He also watched as the three officers from the _Ebon Hawk _went back up the ramp.

The man lowered his binoculars and then tapped the comlink in his ear. He said "Kilsbith to base."

"Go ahead, Mr. Kilsbith." said a voice from the other end.

"It would appear as though Governor Refas himself is forming an alliance with the Jedi." Kilsbith reported.

"What do you know?" asked the other person.

"Apparently the whole crew of the _Ebon Hawk _will be attending a banquet at his house this night." speculated Kilsbith.

"What of their ship?"

"Dozens of members of the Darcipient Order will be guarding it."

"Hmmm…" said the person from the other end. After a moment, Kilsbith insisted "While the whole Darcipient Order is a formidable obstacle for us, we are more than a match for a few dozen of its members. We can easily take the ship from them with a hundred of our people."

"No, our target is not the Order." said the person on the other end. "We cannot attack the governor's personal fighting force unless we are faced with no other choice."

"But the ship…" began Kilsbith.

"The ship is merely a bonus." said his companion. "Our primary targets are the Jedi. We must proceed with caution. Where Captain Oryetu and his men failed, we will not. Is that clear, Mr. Kilsbith?"

Kilsbith sighed and answered "Yes, ma'am."

Back on the Sith sentry vessel that had been passing through that region of space, the crew had brought two corpses from each shuttle on board by then. The science officer was taking time to study them with the help of the operations officer. When the captain came into the room for a progress report, he got one in full detail. The pilot and the weapons officer had accompanied him. At that moment, all five members of the crew were in the science lab.

"What have you found?" asked the captain to the science and operations officers.

"Sir, we're discovered that most of these men were in fact killed by energy-based weapons." the science officer reported. The captain noticed he was somewhat jittery as he went on, "Some were killed by blaster rifles, some were killed by electrical shockwaves, but a few of them were killed by something else."

"What was used to kill those individuals?" inquired the captain.

"Lightsabers, sir." answered the operations officer, who was also rather nervous.

The captain almost turned pale. When he was able to bring himself to speak again, he said "Are you certain?"

"Yes, sir." said the operations officer. "Some of these men were definitely killed by lightsabers."

The science officer concluded "Based on the bodies' rate of decay and the amount of the charge left behind in them, these men were killed no more than twelve days ago."

"Well, no Sith vessels have passed through this region in nearly a month," said the pilot, "so there is no doubt that this was done by Jedi."

"Why would Jedi do this?" said the operations officer.

"While we were on the first shuttle, I managed to spot the ID signature of the ship it belongs to." the weapons officer reported. "It identified as the _Gocowera_, a bounty hunter vessel from Nar Shaddaa."

"Nar Shaddaa?" said the science officer. "Why would Jedi be going to Nar Shaddaa?"

"Everyone goes to Nar Shaddaa to shop for the best merchandise and gear." said the operations officer.

"That is true," the pilot agreed, "but Nar Shaddaa is also full of Jedi bounty hunters."

"Then the only reason they would go there must be that they are stocking themselves up in preparation of a long-term mission in space." the weapons officer theorized. "Knowing the Republic, it must be a search mission."

"A valid assumption," commented the captain, "but what would they be searching for?"

The five men stood thinking for a while, and slowly all of them arrived at the correct conclusion: the Jedi were out there to hunt down their fleet and alert the Republic of their whereabouts.

"We'd better report this." the pilot suggested.

"He's right." said the weapons officer. "Our fleet is not nearly large enough to take on a Republic armada."

"First we need to put back the corpses." said the science officer.

"Very well." the captain agreed. "But make it quick. The sooner we leave, the better."

The Sith crew hastily returned the corpses to the respective shuttles they had found them in and left that region of space immediately afterwards.


	12. Creating An Alliance

(I apologize for taking so long. I've been very busy with my other stories.)

Note: The Darcipient Order belongs to me, as do all of its members. Another organization mentioned in this chapter belongs to me as well.

Revan stood in his room with his pregnant wife preparing to meet the governor's welcome party. He was putting on his ceremonial Jedi robes. He only wore those during a formal symposium or a Jedi service. He had never thought that he would be wearing them to a political ceremonial dinner.

As Bastila dressed herself in her own ceremonial robes, she glimpsed as the look on her husband's face. It was one of concern and tension. She asked him "What troubles you, Revan?"

He responded with "I am concerned for our safety and the governor's safety. Many bounty hunters on this planet may view the governor as a threat because he is allying himself with Jedi. This very action may incite a civil war on this planet."

He sat down on their bed and put his hands against his forehead. His wife came over and sat down behind him. She started rubbing his shoulders ardently as she told him "The governor would not have wanted to form this alliance with us if he felt it was not worth the risks. The Darcipient Order can protect him from anyone who disapproves of his friendship with us."

"I know that the Darcipient Order is composed of masterminds and professionals," said Revan, "but there are millions of bounty hunters on this planet. The Darcipient Order must contain only 100,000 members; 120,000 at the most."

"Numbers have never mattered to organizations like the Order." Bastila reassured her husband. "They have prevailed over impossible odds before. I am sure they can do so now."

Revan turned to his wife and smiled at her. He then brought her close to him and kissed her on the lips. They embraced each other and stayed together alone until it was time for the crew to depart.

The rest of the crew was preparing to depart from the ship along with their Captain. However, Mandalore was absolutely refusing to put on anything other than his military suit. But there was a variety of things he could accomplish with it on. He even had the ability to eat with his helmet on. In order to eat, he would just hold food up to the front of his head. The jaw shield on his helmet would be retracted and allow him to eat. Whenever he was finished, the jaw guard would settle back in place.

Finally, a transport ship arrived at exactly 1900 hours. Once it arrived, all 30 members of the _Ebon Hawk _exited the ship and walked up to the transport. The captain of the transport helped the crew get seated and comfortable. As the _Ebon Hawk _crew got in, forty members of the Darcipient Order got out. They positioned themselves around the landing pad and stood firmly on their spots.

As the transport took off, Revan saw his ship through a window and how it appeared to get smaller the further the transport got away from it. Even though he knew that the Daricipient Order was more than capable of guarding his ship for a few hours, he still felt mildly uncomfortable having his entire crew off of the _Ebon Hawk_ for that amount of time.

Kilsbith was still at his post in the swoop shop. He had monitored the transport as it arrived and departed. Then he said into his ear communicator "Kilsbith to Unala."

"Unala here." said the woman he had spoken with earlier from the other end.

"The _Ebon Hawk _crew has just departed." Kilsbith reported. "Forty members of the Darcipient Order are guarding their ship."

"Good." said Unala. "Is Quremn in place?"

"Yes, I just received confirmation from him when the transport landed." said Kilsbith.

"We're going to need him to report everything he discovers about the alliance between the governor and the Jedi." Unala said to him.

"I gave him explicit instructions to do just that." Kilsbith notified her.

"Alright." said Unala. "Keep a watch on the members of the Darcipient Order that are guarding the _Ebon Hawk_. If any of them depart early, notify me immediately."

"Got it." Then they terminated the transmission.

About twenty minutes later, the transport ship arrived at Refas' place of residence. Eliish and Iomori were standing at the entrance with him. They were dressed in part-formal, part-informal attire.

One by one, the crew of the _Ebon Hawk _got out of the transport. Once they were all out, they approached the front door. They all stood there in silence for a moment, and then Refas gave a light bow and said "Welcome to my house. It is a pleasure to have you as my personal guests."

"You honor us with your goodwill." said Revan. "We look forward to discussing the terms of our alliance. When shall we begin?"

"During dinner." Refas answered. Then, gesturing to the two men standing next to him, he said "These two gentlemen are Deputy Iomori, head of security from the Refugee Sector, and Constable Eliish, the Nar Shaddaa's chief of security."

The two of them gave friendly nods to the crowd in front of them. Their gracious gesture was returned with more nods.

"Shall we proceed inside?" suggested Revan.

"At your convenience, sir." Refas answered.

Then Refas moved to the side and stuck his arm out to the door. Eliish and Iomori opened the doors to let the large crowd inside. As they expected, the governor's residence was one of magnificent size and quality. However, Refas was still a very modest man in terms of household adornments. In the large foyer, there were dozens of pillars about a meter in height. Each of them held a bust of one of Nar Shaddaa's previous governors. When Refas' term as governor was finished, he would become the first Human to have a bust in that magnificent hall.

As the large group walked inside, Refas said to Revan "I would prefer it if only you, your wife, your Executive Officer, her husband, and your Warrant Officer join me specifically. The rest of your people may dine with my staff from the Darcipient Order."

Everybody glanced at Revan, who nodded at his crewmen. Then twenty-five members of the crew were escorted down the right side of the hallway by some of the guards. The crew was told that the staff meetings and intelligence operations all took place down the left side of the hallway.

There was a tall flight of stairs against the wall of the foyer opposite the front door. Refas, Eliish, and Iomori walked up this staircase. Revan, Bastila, Atton, Mona, and Carth followed close behind. However, Bastila and Mona required a little assistance from their husbands due to the large size of their abdomens. Carth easily made it to the top of the stairs first.

Once all eight of them were at the top, they proceeded down another hallway to a pair of doors. The two security men opened the doors and allowed the others to pass through. Inside there was a rectangular table set for eight. There were three chairs on each of the long sides and one on each of the short sides.

Refas sat at one of the ends. Iomori sat to his right and Eliish sat to his left. Revan sat at the other end. Bastila sat to his right and Atton sat to his left. Carth sat in between Bastila and Eliish; Mona sat in between Atton and Iomori.

A large amount of food had been placed at the table beforehand. Wanting to get down to business- and dinner, in general- everyone started eating.

"This is some fine _rogolin _casserole you have." Mona told Refas.

"Thank you." said Refas. "It's my wife's special recipe. She's almost as famous for it as I am for being this planet's first Human governor."

"That must be something significant." commented Bastila.

Refas nodded. There was silence for a few moments. Then Iomori broke the silence when he said "Excuse me for prying, but I thought Jedi were not allowed to have children."

"We have convinced the Order that we can keep our emotions and priorities in equilibrium." Mona explained. "They agreed that under certain circumstances, we have the special privilege of being allowed to procreate."

Eliish smiled and after he swallowed what food was in his mouth, he told them "I can tell you firsthand that parenthood can be somewhat overwhelming at times, but it is one of life's greatest privileges."

"You have children, Constable?" Atton assumed.

"Yes, I have two boys." said the planet security chief. "I've always been proud to call them mine. You know, both Iomori and the Governor here have children too."

"The Constable is correct." Iomori confirmed. "I have a five-year old daughter. She's the greatest gift my wife has ever given me."

"And you, Governor?" inquired Carth.

"Two boys and a girl." said Refas. "They're my greatest accomplishment; even greater than becoming Nar Shaddaa's first Human governor."

"This is all very fascinating." said Revan. "But as much as I would **love **to drone on about parenthood, I believe we should discuss the nature of our covert alliance?"

"Ah, yes." said Refas. "I was just getting to that."

He wiped his mouth with his napkin, sat up straight, and began "We know the nature of your presence on this planet. You are here to resupply your ship and prepare it to confront a rogue Sith fleet."

"How did you know that?" asked Atton.

"It honestly wasn't that hard to determine." Eliish explained. "We already knew there was a Sith fleet not far from here. We were also able to conclude that the only reason people like Jedi would come here is because you can almost literally find anything you'd ever want here."

"Everything except harmony, serenity, and civility from the public, you mean." Iomori added.

"Correct." said Eliish. "In other words, you can find anything here, but you wouldn't want to stay long and get to know very many people."

"We can relate, Constable." Mona concurred. "The first time we came here, I was 'invited' to the Jekk'Jekk'Tarr by Visquis, who was working with Goto. In the end, I managed to walk right into the trap, but Goto had Visquis executed and he kidnapped me."

"But we stopped at nothing until we had saved her." Atton finished for her. "Even though Goto's ship was destroyed in the process, I would say that our intentions were understandable."

"Loyalty and dedication to your friends are two of the most important qualities of any hierarchical organization." stated Refas. "It is critical in the Darcipient Order and in my staff."

"Governor, we're getting off topic again." Revan pointed out. "Before we delve into philosophy and ways to relate how we run our groups, may we at least **begin **to discuss the alliance?"

Refas nodded. Then he began: "As you may know, the Darcipient Order is the most resourceful, most secretive, and most productive intelligence agency on all of Nar Shaddaa. I can have my men keep you up to date on all the activities of the bounty hunter groups- both the provincial and the widespread cults."

"That sounds like an ideal arrangement." Bastila noted. "We can know how to proceed every day. We will be able to determine how much caution we should proceed with on a daily basis as well."

Revan nodded at his wife's analysis of the proposal. Then they continued discussing the alliance. They discussed plans such as sharing each other's insight on recent events, and Eliish had made a note to have certain members of the Darcipient Order watch over them undercover every day.

Refas had even offered for forty members of the Darcipient Order to guard their vessel every hour of every day it was there. Revan and the others had politely declined this offer. They explained that they did not want to risk implicating the Governor, the Darcipient Order, or the Governor's reputation by presenting clear evidence in public of their association. It was a secret coalition, after all!

When both the dinner and the meeting had been concluded, Refas, Eliish, and Iomori showed Revan, Carth, Bastila, Mona, and Atton back to the foyer. Their twenty-five crewmembers were already there waiting for them. They then headed for the front door. Before leaving, everyone thanked the Governor and his two security officers again for their hospitality.

Back on the transport vessel, Carth asked the other members of the crew "So, how did dinner with the main staff of the Darcipient Order go?"

"It was remarkably uninteresting." Canderous responded. "I mean, there is no denying that the food was outstanding, but you'd never seen more monotonous dinner hosts in your life."

"Tell me about it." said Bao-Dur. "The staff barely spoke at all, but when they did speak, they just talked about their latest expertise reports on certain matters, or who they had recently apprehended for committing certain crimes."

"The droids were lucky they didn't have to come to the table." said Mira. "They just received a few 'cordial decontamination processes' by some engineers."

"I know it is a bit premature to make any suppositions about these people," said Jolee, "but this may be a most uneventful alliance in terms of person-to-person work."

Revan just shrugged and told them "Then let it be that way." Not another word was spoken about this matter.

When the transport vessel returned to the _Ebon Hawk_, the thirty crewmen stepped out and the forty members of the Darcipient Order stepped in. The _Ebon Hawk _crew watched as the transport vessel lifted into the air went back the way it came.

Kilsbith was still at his post in the swoop shop. He watched as the thirty members of the _Ebon Hawk _crew walked back up the ramp of their ship. Once they were all back in their ship and the ramp was brought up, he reported this activity to his associate Unala.

"According to what Quremn told me, the Governor has officially made an alliance with them." she enlightened him.

"Then the Governor and the Darcipient Order are also our enemies." Kilsbith concluded.

"Not at the moment." Unala corrected him. "However, we will determine this in time."

"How will we?" asked Kilsbith.

"We'll present both the Order and the Jedi with a test." Unala answered. "When the members of the crew break off into their groups tomorrow morning and head to their usual locations, we'll attack the ship and eliminate whoever is left on it."

"An excellent strategy, Unala." Kilsbith chuckled wickedly. "I'll notify the members of my team immediately on this plan. I assume you'll want me to lead them myself?"

"Of course, Kilsbith." said Unala. "And you have two directives: leave them a notice of 'warning,' and kill everyone who is there."


	13. The Warning

The next morning, the _Ebon Hawk _crew began their usual round of reconnaissance at the standard time.

Carth, Mira, Juhani, Zaalbar, GO-TO, T1-N1, Bao-Dur, and BD-002 went to the town square to resume their bargaining and deciding prices for certain purchases of equipment they saw as ideal to have on hand.

Mona, Atton, Mission, Visas, B-4D4, Mical, Jolee, and Mandalore went to the refugee encampment to discover more helpful information and to be kept updated on recent regional events.

Revan, Bastila, T3-M4, Canderous, Davik, Kreia, Hanharr, and Brianna went to the landing docks to find more coalitions to form on the planet. Even though they had the Darcipient Order on their side, they knew that on Nar Shaddaa, one can never have too many allies.

Trask, HK-47, Hurdow, 3CFD, T3-H8, and Ratrin were left at the landing pad to manage the _Ebon Hawk_.

From his spot in the swoop shop, Kilsbith had witnessed the crew depart once more that morning. His friend Quremn had joined him this time, and they watched the ship together. Once the majority of the crew had left, Quremn reported this in to Unala. She then gave him a signal: "One hour from now, we shall convey our warning."

"Understood." Quremn acknowledged.

In the town square, Carth and his team were placing several requisitions for handy supplies and gear. They acquired provisions, medicine, weapons, and tools.

In the refugee district, Mona and her team had made a pact with Saquesh. They would give the Exchange a ten-percent discount on all Federation goods they purchased, provided that the refugees were kept in good care, the crew was given information on the actions of the most potentially threatening bounty hunter groups, and they were constantly informed of the condition of the bounty on Jedi. Saquesh had found the terms acceptable and agreed to the request.

Of course, if they could, they would have requested that Saquesh recall the Jedi bounty altogether, but every member of the _Ebon Hawk _crew knew that even Saquesh himself didn't have the authority to do such a thing. He didn't have direct control over every bounty hunter on that planet, so there was only so much he could do in that regard.

On the landing docks, Revan and Bastila were having another one of their meetings with Yossev. They had finally convinced him to combine his clandestine group of intelligence officers to aid the _Ebon Hawk _crew in exchange for Republic citizenship for him and all his men. The membership included all the privileges and advantages of being a member of the Republic, such as the right to engage in more modern trade.

Once Revan had finished making the compromise with Yossev, he and Bastila stood next to the side of the building. They took a moment to look out into the dimly lit horizon. That was one peculiar thing about the refugee sector on Nar Shaddaa: it was barely ever bright on that part of the planet. In fact, the streetlights had to be activated every hour of the day for pedestrians to see clearly where they were going. However, this was nothing too hard for anyone to adapt to.

Even though it was still rather dark, Bastila and Revan took the time to savior the sight of the horizon. It had a stunning type of beauty to it. After staring at the horizon for a long time, they looked at each other. They smiled contently at each other, enjoying the peacefulness and silence of the moment.

Revan put his hand on his wife's lower chest and let it rest there. Within a few moments, he could feel a light nudge against his hand. It didn't take him long at all to realize he was feeling his child kicking. Bastila was clearly in a state of quintessential bliss upon feeling that sensation.

"Our child is eager to come into this life." Revan noted.

"I sense the force is strong with her." said Bastila. "Or him."

"I sense it as well." he agreed. "How long would you estimate it will be before he or she is born?"

"I would estimate that the date of delivery would be sooner than we had originally expected." she approximated. "Perhaps sometime within the next few weeks, the child will come."

Revan smiled and brought his head closer to his wife's. The two of them shared a long, passionate kiss with each other. The kiss lasted almost fifteen seconds before they brought their lips apart. They just looked into each other's eyes after that. Finally, Bastila looked back out into the horizon and commented "It is rather ironic, is it not? While this planet may be infested with transgressions, barbarity, and deceit, even it can still have its share of beauty and wonder."

Revan joined his wife in looking out into the horizon and told her "Indeed it can have its appeals. Indeed it can."

After a few more moments of idyllic silence, Revan's comlink beeped and cut the couple's harmonious moment short. His wife looked at him as he sighed in frustration. He commented "If only there was a way to enjoy it without any interruptions."

She nodded as her husband tapped his comlink in his ear and said "Revan here."

"Revan, we're under attack!" Hudrow shouted from the other side. He shouted so loudly that Bastila could hear him as clearly as Revan.

"What?" Revan yelled into the comlink. "By whom?"

Back at the landing pad, over two hundred men had surrounded the _Ebon Hawk_. A few dozen of them had made it inside. Hudrow had been cornered in the cargo hold. Several of the assailants had moved into the room and were firing at him. At that moment, he was hiding behind a cluster of plasteel canisters, firing a few shots over them every few seconds.

"We don't know!" Hudrow replied. "They just charged down the crossway and started firing on us. Eventually they boarded the ship. Ratrin's dead. I saw T3-H8 get blown to pieces before I took cover."

"What about the others?" inquired Revan.

"I haven't seen 3CFD." said Hudrow. "But I believe Trask and HK-47 are making their stand in the cockpit. I've been cornered in the cargo hold."

"Alright, hold on, Hudrow." said Revan. "We'll be there as quickly as possible."

"Please hurry." Hudrow requested. "I don't know how much longer I can- AAAAAHHHHH!"

The connection between Revan's comlink and Hudrow's was severed. Frantically, Revan said "Hudrow? Hudrow, are you there?"

There came no response. Revan and Bastila could only stare at each other in shock. Revan then adjusted his comlink to contact all twenty-two other members of the crew that were of the ship and said for everyone to hear "Everybody pull back to the landing pad immediately! I don't care what you're doing right now or how important it is! The _Ebon Hawk _is under attack!"

Revan then drew his lightsaber out of his belt and he and his wife went as fast as they could to the town square.

Everybody met just outside the droid workshop. About thirty-five members of the Darcipient Order had met with them. Revan peered down the corner and saw the _Ebon Hawk_. It was surrounded by dozens and dozens of hostile aliens. There were Aqualish, Twi'leks, Gamorreans, Weequays, Devaronians, Rodians, Trandoshans, and even a few Humans.

Commandant Higner, the man who had been in charge of the Darcipient Order assigned to protect the Jedi, saw the group of men and told Revan "I recognize their clothing. Those men are members of a particularly vicious group of bounty hunters known as the _Rhekti Ocilra_. It's the Hutt term for 'The Ruthless Ones.'"

"The Ruthless Ones, huh?" Revan simply activated his lightsaber. "We'll just see about that."

"Take out as many as you wish." Commander Higner told the group. "We already have enough information about this group to tell you the favorite color of each of their members."

The group nodded in unison. Then all the Jedi in the group activated their lightsabers as Revan had. Everyone else either pulled out a type of blade or a blaster weapon. Raising his lightsaber in the air, Revan shouted "Attack!"

His crew and the Dacripient Order members shouted with him and they all started charging down the crossway. The bounty hunters still on the walkway noticed the stampeding group first and shouted back. Then they started heading down the platform right toward them.

Every moment, the two crowds got closer and closer to each other. Finally, they clashed. Revan, Atton, and Mira had been at the front of the group. All three of them had their lightsabers raised in the air. When the two groups were upon each other, the lightsabers came crashing down. Immediately, a Twi'lek, an Aqualish, and a Gamorrean fell dead onto their backs.

A Devaronian waved his vibroblade at Brianna. The Handmaiden ducked, jumped into the air, and kicked him in the chest. The Devaronian stumbled near the ledge of the landing pad, and then he lost his balance and fell over it. He dropped over two kilometers to his death.

Bao-Dur slashed at a Trandoshan with his lightsaber. The Trandoshan collapsed lifeless. Bao-Dur then raised his left fist- the one on the replacement arm- and punched a Weequay full in the face. The impact of Bao-Dur's artificial fist was so powerful that he shattered almost every bone in the Weequay's face. The alien died almost instantly.

Working together, Kreia and Jolee created a Force Push field so powerful that they were able to project nine of the bounty hunters off of the platform. All of them fell to their death.

Inside the _Ebon Hawk_, Trask and HK-47 were making their stand in the cockpit. HK-47 was moving out to the hallway and firing down into the main hold at the attackers.

"Metaphorical Request: Take that!" shouted HK-47 as he shot one of the assailants in the forehead. The assailant dropped to the ground dead. As HK-47 fired at multiple targets and hit each one of them, he added in "Addendum: And that! Addendum: And that!"

"Cool yourself, HK." said Trask as he came up behind HK and fired around him at a few more aliens. He had managed to kill three of them in his volley of shots.

"Statement: I am merely enjoying myself." said the assassin droid.

"I can see that." said Trask as he shot a Rodian in the neck, killing him.

Back outside, the members of the Darcipient Order were showing some remarkable skill. They were agile, diligent, and skilled in their use of a sword or a blaster.

Revan, Juhani, Visas, and Mical jumped over the large ensemble of bounty hunters to the ramp of the _Ebon Hawk_. There they fought their way inside and killed any bounty hunter that tried to attack them first. As they fought, Revan shouted "Juhani, Mical, make your way to the cargo hold! Hudrow said he was taking cover there when he was under attack! Visas, come with me to the cockpit!"

Then the four of them split into two pairs. They fought valiantly against the dozens of bounty hunters that crowded in the ship. Soon Visas and Revan made their way to the front of the ship and joined HK-47 and Trask.

"You two alright?" Revan asked them.

"Answer: Yes, I am doing quite well, master." HK-47 replied. "So many meatbags on this ship that wish to be killed. If I could sleep I would say it was a dream I had always hoped would come true."

"Glad to see he's enjoying himself." Trask grunted. With the combined strength of all the members of the crew, all the bounty hunters were killed or on the ground within the following thirteen minutes."

Revan and the others had come outside to examine the damage. Four members of the Darcipient Order had been killed, and Juhani and Mical confirmed that Ratrin was dead and T3-H8 had been destroyed. They also found Hudrow in the cargo bay. He had been killed too. 3CFD had been found almost smashed apart near the utility lift.

Revan sighed and looked off to the side. He was finding it hard to grasp the fact that his crew count had just been cut from thirty to twenty-six people.

"What can you tell us about these men?" Mona asked Commandant Higner.

"I can tell you plenty about them." said Higner. "They are deceitful, crude, very unethical, and highly unpleasant. In other words, they're just your typical bounty hunter group."

His eyes came across one of the corpses on the ground. He kneeled next to it and said "What the? This is rather odd."

"What is it?" asked Bastila.

"This man is- was- Griwce Kilsbith." Higner explained. "He worked for a different bounty hunter group, the _Weifik Noisa_. That phrase translates to 'The Unyielding Legion.'"

"interesting." said Mira. "I wasn't aware that anyone could ever work for two bounty hunter groups at once."

"I was not either." said Hanharr.

"Then perhaps he was a defector." Mission suggested. "Or he had left his last group to join this one."

"Or…" Carth began. The others looked at him to hear what he had to say. Finally, he let his thoughts out: "Or, some bounty hunter groups have banded together to make a more resilient and functional attempt to defeat us."

That was a rather unpleasant idea, but one that everybody considered as a valid option.

Back at the swoop shop, Quremn had been monitoring everything from the post he had taken. He tapped his communicator and reported in "Unala, the attack failed. Kilsbith and the others are all dead."

"What?" she said surprised. "How?"

"One of them must have sent out a distress call to another member of the group." Quremn theorized. "But it would appear as though our suspicions have been confirmed. The Darcipient Order is officially in league with the Jedi."

Unala grumbled on the other line. Then she told Quermn "You have to take out Revan. Without him, they'll have no one to act as the key model of leadership."

"You got it." said Quremn. As he got out a long-rang blaster pistol, he said "I'll leave this communications line open, just in case."

Unala agreed to this idea. Quremn kneeled against the ledge and aimed his weapon directing at Revan's cranium. But Revan immediately sensed a disturbance in the force. He whipped around and used Force Grip on Quremn, even though he was over two hundred feet away. Quremn dropped his pistol and grasped his neck with both hands. Revan then used Force Pull to bring the bounty hunter closer to the platform.

Once he was floating just above the platform, Revan loosened his grip enough for the man to talk and angrily asked him "Who are you?"

"I can answer that for you." said Commandant Higner. "He is Vertu Quremn. He's a member of the _Asuem Mofrid_. The translation is 'The Dauntless Mercenaries.'"

"Is that so?" said Mona, stepping forward. "Alright, Mr. Quremn. Tell us; have you formed a coalition with other bounty hunter groups?"

Quremn was still struggling to fully recover his breath, but he was able to grin and reply with "Yes. And we've got so many people in our association that not even a quarter of the Darcipient Order itself can stop us. You may as well surrender now. If you do, we will not harm you."

"We don't surrender to second-rate scum." said Atton. "We've been through much worse than this. If you think you will intimidate us into surrendering, think again."

Revan released Quremn from the Force Grip. The man collapsed on the ground, gasping for his breath. Revan turned away from him towards the others and said "Alright. So now we know the magnitude of the threat we're up against. Are you and your men still sure you want to get involved, Commandant Higner?"

Higner just smiled and said "We never let our friends astray. We'll stand by you throughout all of this."

Revan smiled back and said "We are grateful for your dedication, sir. When we return to the Republic, I'm going to request special commendations for you and your men."

While they talked, Quremn regained his breath and sat up straight. Revan had his back to him. Quremn then raised his right arm in the air. With lightning-fast reflexes, Carth raised his blaster pistol and shot Quremn in the head.

Revan turned around and saw Quremn lying dead on the platform now. He turned to Carth and asked him "Was that necessary, Carth?"

Carth kneeled next to Quremn, rolled down his right sleeve, and showed him a mechanical device that had been strapped to his wrist. He pointed it at the corpse of a one of the bounty hunters. He pressed a button and a powerful beam of energy shot out from the device. The corpse turned to dust just a few moments after being hit by the energy beam. Carth looked up at Revan and told him "This is the mechanism of a military-grade disruptor. Had he pressed this button here, he would have vaporized you the way I just vaporized that corpse."

Revan realized Carth had just saved his life. He grinned and said gratefully "Thank you, Carth."

Carth just nodded back at his friend. Suddenly, he heard a female voice coming from Quremn's ear. It said "Quremn, report. Quremn, are you there?" Carth looked and saw a communicator attached to his outer ear and removed it. Holding it up, Revan took it and said into the communicator "I'm afraid Quremn is not here right now. He's dead at the moment."

There was a brief pause. Then the woman said from the other end "No matter. We have people everywhere. We know you will only be here for two weeks, but we can do plenty in that time."

"Do you recognize the voice?" Mona asked Higner.

"Yes, that is Unala Rewtiz." the Commandant told her. "She's a key figure in the Ruthless Ones."

"Seeing as how the purpose of this attack was most likely to convey a message, I'm going to give her a message of my own." Revan put the communicator up close to his mouth and said in a rather intimidating tone of voice "Listen to me very closely. We are usually a very peaceful group of people. But we do not approve of unprovoked attacks on our company. If you leave us alone, allow us to finish our business here, and let us leave the planet two weeks from now, we will never pursue you or hunt you down. But as long as you harass and assault us, we will respond with mutual amounts of force. And we will not stop fighting back until you have perished."

There was utter silence, which was finally broken when Unala spoke four words: "We'll see about that." Then the line went dead.


	14. Easing The Pain

(Note: I know I have this story labeled as an Action/Adventure/Romance one, but this chapter is more of the Hurt/Comfort persuasion. It also makes reference to certain events from both KOTOR games, only slightly altered to be in the format of what would have happened had all the members of the crew in this story survived.)

The bodies of Ratrin and Hudrow were placed into stasis in one of the _Ebon Hawk_'s smugglers holds. The remains of 3CFD and T3-H8 were each placed in one different metal box. A memorial service was held for them in the main hold once all the bounty hunters' corpses had been removed from the ship. The Governor conveyed his most sincere apology that such a catastrophe was allowed to happen in the first place, but Revan assured Refas that he did not blame him for it.

After the memorial service was held, Revan, Mona, and Carth went to work assigning people to take over the duties their four late members had taken on. BD-002 accepted the responsibilities of both the Systems Diagnostic Repairer and the Engines Diagnostic Repairer, which had been the respective roles of 3CFD and T3-H8. Davik took on the secondary role of Chief of Operations, which had been Hudrow's job. Lastly, B4-D4 was given the assignment of Communications Officer, which had been Ratrin's role on the ship.

In addition to this, Revan had assigned BD-002, Davik, and B-4D4 to the group that stayed with the ship during the day, as the only two surviving members of the original six had been Trask and HK-47. Revan also saw the need for additional members of the crew to stay onboard, so he had Kreia, Bao-Dur, and Mission be added to the team that remained with the ship.

(Just so we're clear on who is assigned to where, I'll put this in:

Team 1 (_Ebon_ _Hawk_): Trask, HK-47, Bao-Dur, BD-002, Mission, B-4D4, Davik, Kreia

Team 2 (Town Square): Carth, Mira, Juhani, Zaalbar, GO-TO, T1-N1

Team 3 (Refugee District): Mona, Atton, Jolee, Visas, Mical, Mandalore

Team 4 (Landing Docks): Revan, Bastila, T3-M4, Canderous, Brianna, Hanharr

Now we can move on with the chapter)

Once the replacements for the four late members of the crew had been selected, Revan announced that for the rest of the day, everybody would stay in _Ebon Hawk _and not return to their chores. Somehow, he felt that it wouldn't be right to just go on like nothing had happened; so he ordered everybody to stay on the landing pad for at least the rest of the day.

After lunch, Revan sat on the landing pad looking back out into the horizon. He thought of the irony: the last time he had looked out into the horizon, it had been with his wife. They had been sharing an ardent moment with each other. Revan was at that moment alone, staring out at the horizon while mourning for the late members of his crew. It had only been a week on Nar Shaddaa, and already four of his crew had been killed by bounty hunters. To make matters worse, none of them were Jedi! Now the planet's bounty hunters had their eyes set on almost half the current crew. Had Trask and HK-47 also perished in the attack, it would have been exactly half.

He was especially saddened by the loss of Hudrow and T3-H8. They had been two good friends ever since he had first encountered them on Taris. He had actually bought T3-H8 a few days before he had bought T3-M4. Sure, T3-H8 had blown up almost the instant he rolled out of Janice Nall's droid shop, but the damage done to him had not been as serious as one may be led to believe. Once Mission had been recruited into the group by Revan, Trask, and Carth, she had managed to repair him. After that, T3-H8 had proved to be a most useful member of their team from that point forward.

Then there was Hudrow. Hudrow had been the one that provided him with the access codes to the _Ebon Hawk _in the first place. Even though Davik would have given them to Revan in the first place, it was Hudrow who assisted Carth and Bastila with piloting and navigations in the first place.

Now both of them were gone. They were not longer members of his crew.

"Could you use some company?" said a voice from behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw that it was Mona. He nodded and she sat next to him. He had his legs bent so that his knees in front of him and they were level with his shoulders. He had his arms folded over his knees so that he could keep his legs straight. Mona would have sat in the same position, but the size of her lower chest made that a little too difficult. She just sat on the ground and placed her arms behind her back. She placed her hands flat on the ground and leaned on her arms. She spread her legs straight out in front of herself and sat still, watching the horizon with her captain.

"I'll miss them, too." she told Revan.

Mona was honest in her last statement. She was personally going to miss Ratrin and 3CFD. She took a moment to think about the two of them and what they had done for the ship and its crew. It was thanks to T3-M4 and 3CFD that she was still alive. When she had been kidnapped off of the _Harbinger_ and brought aboard the _Ebon Hawk_, 3CFD was the one that stabilized her after the ship had been damaged. After they docked at Peragus, 3CFD appeared to have suffered irreparable damage, but they were able to get him back to the ship and repair him. Later on Nar Shaddaa, he and T3-M4 had gotten into the droid warehouse in order to access the launch codes of Goto's Yacht.

Now, as for Ratrin, whom she had met on Nar Shaddaa, she actually did not like him at first. She believed him to be nothing more than a former owner of the _Ebon Hawk _who wanted it back without giving anything in return. But she had misjudged him. He was actually able to help her access more of the _Ebon Hawk_'s memory, which gave the crew more knowledge on the ship's operations than ever before.

But like Hudrow and T3-H8, both of them were gone, too.

Revan then expressed his feelings: "It isn't right, Mona. Four of our friends died this morning, fighting against bounty hunters who were only interested in finding the Jedi. Only interested in you, me, Bastila, Atton, and the other eight. It just doesn't seem right that two men and two droids should be wiped out just for working with us."

After taking a moment to ponder on the loss itself and Revan's comment, Mona turned to him and placed her hand on his. He turned to his executive officer and grinned affectionately. She told him "Revan, I know you are deeply saddened by this terrible loss. But we must not let it take the better of us. Remember, as Jedi, we cannot allow our personal feelings to compromise our discipline and our objectives. There will be a time to mourn for Ratrin, Hudrow, 3CFD, T3-H8, and all the rest of our dead, but for now, we must be focused on our mission."

Revan turned to Mona. He slowly brought a grin up on his face, and she did the same. After a few more minutes, he got to his feet and helped Mona up off the ground. As they headed back up the ramp of the _Ebon Hawk_, Revan said "Sometimes I wonder how I ever managed to accomplish anything before I had you as my First Officer."

She smiled gratefully at him for his compliment, and then they went to join their friends back in the main hold.


	15. The Council Of Iniquity

Some people were having an even worse day than Revan. Thousands of light years away, a Sith patrol vessel was dropping out of hyperspace. It was the same vessel that had found the abandoned shuttles of the _Gocowera_ just days earlier. After flying at high speed for a few days, they had finally reached their destination. They had finally rendezvoused with their fleet after hours of searching.

There were thousands of one-manned fighters, hundreds of patrol ships, dozens of frigates, and several Interdictor-class cruisers. In the center of them all was a Centurion-class battlecruiser, the _Obliterator_, which was the flagship of the entire fleet.

The patrol ship that had just arrived made its way to the _Obliterator_. Once it had docked in the flagship, its crew went to speak with the vessel's commanding officer, an ex-Republic Admiral named Erosk Togrel.

"Admiral, we made a very disturbing discovery on our way here." the patrol ship's captain told Togrel on the bridge.

"What have you found, Captain Gomack?" Togrel asked the lower-ranking officer.

"Before we tell you, sir," said Gomack, the captain of the patrol ship, "we believe that we should first present it directly to the Council of Iniquity."

Admiral Togrel's eyes lit up. He said slowly and quietly "What you have found must be grim news for all of us."

"It is, sir." said Gomack.

Togrel could tell that Gomack was dead serious about his claim. No one ever summoned or disturbed the Council of Iniquity unless it was of the utmost importance. Anyone who wasted their time never left their council chambers alive.

There was not much you needed to know about the Council of Iniquity in order to determine that they were a vicious, ruthless lot. They were a group of eleven Sith Lords who assumed the roles as the leaders of the whole Sith fleet. All of them were Dark Jedi Masters who knew virtually everything there was to know about the Dark Side of the Force. They were the only ones that Admiral Togrel took orders from. Every member of the Sith fleet was honored to serve under them, but every member of the fleet also feared them just as much. They would often spend hours, or even days, at a time meditating in their chambers. When they emerged, they would usually have new orders for the Admiral to give to the rest of the fleet.

At that moment, the Council of Iniquity was training some Dark Jedi Apprentices in the center of the ship. They were given a test to prove their dedication to the Dark Side of the Force. The test was very simple: An officer they had known for years who had recently disobeyed an order was brought in front of them. The test was for the Apprentices to kill the said officers where they stood.

There were one hundred Apprentices total that were given this test. All but one of them killed their victims immediately after being told to do so. Then all eyes fell upon the distinguished individual. He was hesitating. The man that had been brought in front of him was a childhood friend. Neither of them had ever fought with each other, argued with each other, or even disagreed with each other on anything. For a few moments, there was silence in the room. Then the apprentice made his decision; he slashed his victim with his lightsaber.

As the victim dropped dead to the ground, the members of the Council of Iniquity stepped forward and clapped for the hundred apprentices. One of them, obviously the head of the Council, raised his arms in the air and announced "Excellent work, all of you. You have proven your loyalty to the Dark Side of the Force. You may now take a two-hour hiatus in your training to consume your afternoon nutrition."

All of the trainees bowed to the Council. All but one of them, along with the instructors, departed from the chambers. That left only the hundred corpses, the Council members, and the apprentice who had hesitated.

The members of the Council were about to retreat into their meditation chambers when the head of the group noticed that one of the students had lingered. He told the others "Begin the meditation without me. I shall be along in a few minutes."

The rest of the Council left their leader and the student alone. The Dark Jedi Master approached his pupil and asked him "What is the reason for your lingering, Apprentice Cujjon?"

"I… I am utterly sorry for that weakness I just presented in front of you and the others of the Council, Master Nigtisus." the Apprentice answered, unable to look up at the Sith Lord's face. "I have disgraced myself."

"You have not, Apprentice." said Nigtisus with a faint note of sympathy in his voice. "This was your first time to kill a fellow member of the fleet. Several students hesitate the first time."

"But I was the only one in this entire group, my Lord!" said Cujjon, still unable to look up at the Master.

Nigtisus could tell that the boy was angry and frustrated with himself. He approached him and placed his hand on his back. He told him in a calm voice "If it gives you any assurance… I hesitated the first time."

"You, sir?" said the Apprentice, finally able to look up at the Sith Lord. He was visibly stunned by Darth Nigtisus' statement.

"Yes, I did." admitted the Dark Jedi Master. "But only the first time. I never hesitated again afterwards."

"And I promise you I shall not either, my Lord." said Cujjon.

"Cujjon, you are the most promising student out of this year's One Hundred Apprentices." said Nigtisus. "But you must not let events of the past cloud your actions."

"I understand, my Lord." Cujjon guaranteed him.

"Now go have your afternoon meal." Nigtisus ordered the Apprentice. "You must have food to keep your body in good physical condition."

"Yes, Master Nigtisus." Cujjon bowed to the Sith Lord and departed from the room to join his peers for lunch. On his way out, he passed by Admiral Togrel, Captain Gomack, and Gomack's crew.

Darth Nigtisus was about to join the rest of the Council in their meditation chambers when he noticed Admiral Togrel and the others approaching him. Once they were ten feet away from him, they bowed courteously. Nigtisus gave a wave of his hand, inciting them to rise back up.

"Are you busy at the moment, Lord Nigtisus?" inquired Togrel.

"No, I was just dismissing Apprentice Cujjon." said the Council Head. "I was about to join the rest of the Council in meditation, but I trust that you would have brought something that you find necessary to address to us."

Togrel nodded and told Nigtisus "Captain Gomack and his crew have discovered something you may find to be very unpleasant."

Nigtisus led the six men into the meditation chambers. There were eleven chairs in the room in the shape of a semi-circle. The five farthest right chairs were the seats of Darth Vaddom, Darth Mojeer, Darth Cortonzo, Darth Prilesk, and Darth Qutapa. The five farthest left chairs were the seats of Darth Jotiin, Darth Trimiak, Darth Witomix, Darth Avipec, and Darth Zanov. The middle chair was empty; it was designated as Darth Nigtisus' seat.

The ten seated men had been meditating in utter silence when the doors opened. They watched as their leader entered the room with the Admiral and the other officers behind him. After Nigtisus had taken his seat, he announced to the Council "Admiral Togrel has told me that Captain Gomack and his crew made a startling discovery while they were on patrol duty. I trust the Admiral's word on this, but now we shall hear of this discovery from Captain Gomack himself."

For the next twenty minutes, Gomack and his four crewmen explained and described their findings to the Council, and how they had learned that the Republic was sending a single ship to hunt for them. On their way there, they had learned more about the Republic's plans from some background research checks.

"Apparently we have captured the Republic's attention prematurely." Darth Qutapa commented.

"We must avoid the Nar Shaddaa area at all costs." Darth Avipec concluded.

"He is right." agreed Darth Vaddom. "Our fleet is still too small to confront a Republic armada."

"Our knowledge of this 'search' is still vague at best." Darth Cortonzo pointed out. "We will need to learn more about it somehow."

"Perhaps we should implement a new type of strategy or tactic." suggested Darth Mojeer.

"I propose that we divide into smaller groups for a while." advised Darth Jotiin. "We should probably have several small squadrons instead of one large fleet."

"No, that would not be very prudent." stated Darth Witomix. "If we break up the fleet, we could risk losing contact with each other. If one group was to be discovered by the Republic, the others may never know until it is too late."

"I would have to agree with Master Witomix." Darth Trimiak concurred. "If we are forced to encounter the Republic armada, we will need every ship we have."

"We are forgetting the most clear of the facts." Darth Zanov pointed out. "The Republic is only sending out **one **ship to search for us."

"Why would they only send out one ship to look for an entire fleet?" Darth Prilesk pondered on this interesting fact.

"Whatever their reasons, we can be sure that they are focused on hunting us down." Darth Nigtisus proclaimed.

For a while, there was complete silence in the room. Finally, Darth Nigtisus looked up at Admiral Togrel and the other officers and told them "Leave us. We will meditate on what the fleet's next course of action should be."

The six officers bowed and departed from the meditation chambers. The Council of Iniquity resumed its round of meditation and began devising a new approach for their fleet to take. Whenever these eleven men mediated, their minds were somehow telepathically linked. This allowed them to collaborate with each other while remaining completely focused at the same time. If a person were to take a glance at the Council at that moment, that person could easily conclude that the door to their meditation chambers would not be opening for at least a week.


	16. Alarming Discoveries

A few rooms away, Cujjon entered the mess hall and got in the waiting line. After he got his tray, he walked over to the section reserved for the Hundred Apprentices. He sat down at an empty table and began eating by himself. Despite the fact that he was the most hopeful and the most charismatic out of the Hundred, there was no one there that he could really relate to or talk to.

At the table behind him, a female member of the Hundred Apprentices was looking over her shoulder at him. She was roughly the same age as Cujjon, being only a few weeks older than him. She had never even spoken to him, but from the moment the Hundred Apprentices had started their training, she had come to recognize him for his talents.

One of the girl's friends, another of the Hundred Apprentices, was sitting right next to her. The friend noticed that she was looking over her shoulder. She got her attention and asked her "Milory, what is it?"

Milory gestured to the table behind them. Her friend saw nobody but Cujjon there.

"Is there something about Apprentice Cujjon that you designate as interesting?"

"You could claim that." said Milory, not taking her eyes off of Cujjon.

Milory's friend started coming up with a few theories for her friend's actions. She asked her "Milory, do you… find him attractive?"

"I'm not sure." Milory answered honestly. "I do have some feeling for him, but the feeling is rather ambiguous."

"Perhaps if you talked to him, you would be able to determine what the feeling is." her friend suggested.

"Enya, are you sure that that is the best course of action to take?" asked Milory.

Enya looked at her friend and said "Do you believe that it is?"

Milory thought about that question, and decided that Enya was right. She picked up her tray, stood up, and moved over to Cujjon. She sat down next to him, but he did not seem to notice. After a few moments, she commented "Rather lively training we've been receiving."

Cujjon nodded and continued eating. Milory decided to just introduce herself straightforwardly. She told him "I am Apprentice Milory" and held out her hand. He just stared at her hand for a moment, and then he shook it, saying "Apprentice Cujjon."

As he ate his lunch, Milory asked him "Why did you not arrive until five minutes after the rest of us?"

"I had something to discuss with Master Nigtisus." Cujjon remained still for a moment. He abruptly stopped eating and pushed his tray away.

"What is troubling you?" Milory inquired, a faint note of concern in her voice.

"Each of us just killed a man, and now we're just eating lunch as if nothing has changed." Cujjon clarified. "Forgive me for implying morality, but doesn't it seem wrong?"

"We were simply following instructions." Milory assured him. "Those people we had been instructed to kill had disobeyed orders. Disobeying orders is the worst thing any Sith can do."

"But is it really punishable by death?" Cujjon expanded the conversation. "Tell me if you believe that it is."

Milory gazed at Cujjon, and took some time to study the expression on his face. He was clearly troubled by the nature of the latest training program. Milory studied Cujjon's face itself next. There she realized what feeling she felt for him. She was, as Enya had theorized, attracted to him.

The two of them had a conversation over lunch that lasted for a long time. Near the end of it, Cujjon asked Milory if she would like to spend some time alone with him during their leisure hours. She told him that it would bring her pleasure to be with him.

A little while later, the _Obliterator_'s First Officer, an officer with the rank of Commander named Bazona Zyn, entered the room and shouted over all the noise "Your attention! I had an announcement for the Hundred Apprentices!"

The room fell silent. Cujjon, Milory, and their ninety-eight acquaintances turned to Commander Zyn and listened to her closely. She announced "Admiral Togrel wants you all to be informed that this afternoon's training session has been postponed. The Council of Iniquity is currently in meditation. That is all."

As soon as Zyn left, there was muttering about her announcement all over the room. Milory turned to Cujjon and asked him "What do you think their subject of meditation is?"

Cujjon lightly shook his head and said "I don't know. But it must be something of great significance."

Over the next few days, the _Ebon Hawk _crew resumed their work on the planet's surface. They acquired more of the supplies, information, and allies they had come to the planet for every day.

Back on Nar Shaddaa, Revan had set up a meeting with his two most notable associates in the Entertainment Promenade for that same day. Refas sent Eliish and Higner to be his representatives. Yossev sent his assistants, Fimjo and Vokub, to be his delegates. Atton and Carth were sent to represent the _Ebon Hawk _crew.

The six men met in the Pazaak Den where they could speak in private. Once they had all assembled, they began their clandestine conference. They spent time discussing possible ways to stay one step ahead of all the bounty hunters on Nar Shaddaa.

"Our boss has suggested that we send in spies to observe the bounty hunters' actions." Fimjo suggested. "The Darcipient Order is welcome to join us in this matter."

"We already have people everywhere." said Higner. "But it can never hurt to have a few more people undercover."

"But you must remember," said Vokub, "if any of our men are discovered, they will be interrogated, tortured, and killed."

"My men are always willing to put the safety of this planet and its inhabitants before their own safety." Eliish reassured them.

"As are my own." said Higner.

"Unfortunately, we don't have anyone to spare at the moment." said Carth. "It is imperative that we complete our business on this planet as quickly as possible. We cannot allow that Sith fleet to get away or grow larger than it already is."

"We share your concerns, Admiral Onasi." Eliish told Carth. "But unfortunately, we can't say the same for the bounty hunters. They don't care if they are under Republic, Sith, or Hutt jurisdiction; as long as they get paid, they give their jobs the highest priority."

"Maybe we're going at this the wrong way." said Atton. "Maybe we should at least try diplomacy."

"Mr. Rand, we have tried being diplomatic many times." said Higner. "Very few bounty hunters on this planet are interested in peace."

"I think I may have a solution." said Fimjo. Everyone turned to him. "Perhaps we should attack the bounty hunters first. They sent you a warning, so perhaps we should respond to this warning in the same manner and on the same magnitude."

"No, it is never wise to be the one who initiates a conflict." Carth cautioned him.

"They were the ones who started this clash." said Vokub. "We should show them that none of us take kindly to unprovoked attacks."

"That is an appealing strategy," Eliish admitted, "but it would not be wise for the planet's security division to be attacking bounty hunter groups without cause."

"What they've already done is cause enough, sir." said Higner. "They should somehow learn that their actions cannot be tolerated. If violence is the only way to do this, then so be it."

"But we mustn't forget: most of these men are just desperate for money." said Atton.

"And that gives them the right to attack you?" said Higner, almost yelling.

"Of course it doesn't." Carth reassured the Commandant. "But we have a code of ethics: we only use violence against sworn enemies, to protect the innocent, or in self-defense."

"I would call what I am suggesting to be self-defense." said Fimjo.

"No, Mr. Fimjo; what you are suggesting is taking extreme measures to ensure everyone's well-being." said Atton.

"With all due respect, sir," said Vokub, "following your ethics won't get you very far against these bounty hunters."

"Our ethics are everything to us, Mr. Vokub." said Carth. "And if you are unwilling to accept that, you and your colleague may withdraw from this conference right now."

Everyone waited to see Vokub and Fimjo's reactions. Neither of them stirred. Finally, they both sighed and Vokub said "Whatever you say, Admiral Onasi. We'll go through with your strategy."

"Excellent." said Carth, sitting back and grinning.

"But you must be wary, sir." said Fimjo, "The bounty hunters will not be so compassionate."

When the meeting ended, Carth and Atton returned to the _Ebon Hawk _and let their crewmates know what had been accomplished in the meeting. Both the Darcipient Order and the Oniris Agency- Yossev's secret intelligence group- had sent in moles to observe the Ruthless Ones and the other bounty hunter groups. They made a plan to pass on information to the _Ebon Hawk _crew at the end of each day. At the same time, they were able to satisfy themselves in the process. The Darcipient Order was able to find enough information to have the means to arrest some of the key officials in the group. The Oniris Agency found evidence of long-scale smuggling being conducted through their territory and put a quick end to it.

One week after the incident on the _Ebon Hawk_, the bounty hunters still had not launched another attack on the Jedi and their colleagues. A few members of the crew were starting to theorize that they had frightened the bounty hunters into retreat. However, some of the more wise members of the crew knew that such fortune did not come so easily, especially to them.

Finally, something happened the day before the crew was scheduled to leave.

On that day, Revan and Bastila headed back from their daily meeting with Yossev at the landing docks. He had had nothing of significance to report regarding the behavior of the bounty hunters, so the two Jedi had decided to return to the _Ebon Hawk _to check up on the progress with the others. Revan decided to call everybody back to the ship and to start preparing for their departure. Even though it wasn't going to be for at least twenty more hours, he wanted the ship to be ready ahead of time.

That night, he took inventory of the ship's supplies and other provisions. They had enough food, clothing, weapons, medicine, and all other necessities to last them for many weeks without stopping at a station or planet.

Before going to sleep that night, Mona sat up straight on the side of her bed. Atton was ready to go to sleep, but he noticed that something was on his wife's mind. He sat behind her and asked her "Are you well?"

"I am at ease." she told her husband. "But I am somewhat unsettled by the last two weeks."

"Why?" said Atton. "Nothing has gone wrong in the past two weeks. Ever since the incident with the Ruthless Ones, no bounty hunter has dared to challenge us."

"That is precisely why I am nervous." Mona confessed. "I believe they have been accumulating both their resources and their men in preparation of launching one large attack tomorrow."

Atton smiled and moved closer to his wife. He had her lean back so that her head was against his chest. He started caressing her head delicately and told her "There is no need for you to worry yourself. Once we have finished our business here tomorrow, we will depart from this planet. We won't have to travel anywhere near it for a long while."

Mona grinned up at her husband and placed her hand on his hand. He continued to stroke her head gently as he talked on "I do not have plans to return to this forsaken planet anytime soon. If you do not wish to ever return here, I understand."

Atton slid his other hand down to his wife's abdomen and let it rest there. He could feel his child kicking inside Mona's womb. When he saw the expression on her face, he asked "Does this bring you pain?"

"On the contrary," she answered, "this is a wonderful sensation. It is the signs of new life."

"I've had **plenty** of those signs these past months." Atton kidded. His wife snickered with him at his joke. Soon they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Later that night, Revan felt his bed move. He looked over his shoulder to see the cause. He saw that it was just Bastila getting out of bed. She walked over to the closet and dressed in her usually robe.

He turned over in bed to face her and he asked "Where are you heading?"

She was a bit startled to hear him talking so abruptly, but she quickly calmed herself down. Then she turned to her husband and told him "I just wish to step outside for a moment. Some equipment we ordered is supposed to be delivered soon."

"Perhaps I should join you." said Revan. "It's never a wise idea to be on your own out there, especially this late at night."

Bastila grinned and told her husband "I won't be alone; Davik will accompany me. Besides, you need to get your rest for our departure tomorrow."

Revan jokingly rolled his eyes and said "Whatever you wish."

As he lay back down in bed, Bastila left the room. But after he heard her footsteps fade away, he got out of bed, got dressed, and sat up straight in his bed.

Outside the _Ebon Hawk_, Bastila and Davik were waiting for their order to arrive. As Davik paced back and forth on the platform, he asked "How long do you think it will take to track down the Sith fleet?"

"I am unsure." she admitted. "The Sith are very responsive and they constantly move from one place to another."

"I can imagine that this will not be easy." said Davik. "After what the Sith did to Taris, it is wise to be cautious when monitoring their activities."

Eventually, four delivery men arrived. What they had ordered was still unknown to most of the crew, but Davik took the case and went back up the ramp. Bastila turned to the men and said "He will return in a moment with your payment."

The men waited about a minute, and then Davik came back down the ramp. He said "Let's do it."

Bastila turned around and asked "What do you mean by that?"

Immediately, Davik pulled out a disruptor rifle and pointed it at Bastila. The four delivery men did the same thing.

Bastila reached for her belt, but she realized that she had left her lightsaber on the ship. Two of the delivery men quickly grabbed her and locked her wrists behind her back with metallic restraints. They were Force-suppressing devices, so Bastila could not use the force to break free. Another of the men took out a communicator and said into it "We have her."

A small ship slowly approached the landing platform. It landed next to the _Ebon Hawk _and the door to it was opened. Another man holding a disruptor got out and said "Come! We must move!"

The noise of the ship landing had alerted Revan. He jumped up and grabbed his lightsaber. As he headed down the ramp, he saw his wife being forced into the small ship by two of the "delivery men." Davik was just about to get in when he spotted Revan. He ordered the other two "delivery men" to get Revan.

Davik got in the shuttle while the two men pointed their weapons at Revan. In response, Revan jumped off the ramp and activated his lightsaber. He jumped near one of the men and slashed him in the chest with the lightsaber. Then he rolled on the ground toward the other man and stabbed him in the chest. Both of them were dead on the ground. Davik saw that they were dead and shut the door to the small ship. Then he shouted "Get us out of here!"

Revan could only watch in horror as the small ship flew away.


	17. Twofaced

The sounds made from all the shouting and struggling had woken a few other members of the _Ebon Hawk_'s crew. Some of them hurried to get dressed and came running down the exit ramp with their weapons in hand. But when they got there, all they found were two corpses and Revan looking up into the sky with his lightsaber activated.

The ship that took Bastila had disappeared behind a few tall buildings. Revan could only stare at those buildings. He was feeling so many emotions at once: shock, despair, anxiety, and, most of all, odium. He was starting to feel hatred rising in his mind. What was forming in his mind could almost be classified as a feeling of incomprehensible rage. It was rage wild enough to make any weak fool go insane.

However, Revan was not weak, and he certainly was not a fool. Remembering who he was as a Jedi, he thought "There is no emotion… there is peace" over and over again until he had calmed himself down. Then he just deactivated his lightsaber and turned to face the members of his crew that had come outside.

"What happened?" asked Brianna.

Bao-Dur looked at the two corpses. They wore the same uniforms as the bounty hunters they had encountered two weeks earlier. He looked up at Revan and said "It was The Ruthless Ones, wasn't it?"

Revan nodded and said "Looks like they haven't given up after all."

He slowly walked up the ramp. Nobody stopped him to ask a question or anything else.

Everybody who had been outside at that time walked back up the ramp. They left the corpses of the two bounty hunters on the platform.

A few minutes later, Trask and HK-47 stood guard at the top of the exit ramp. Everybody else had assembled in the main hold. Brianna was the first to ask "What happened, Revan?"

Revan just sat in a chair in the middle of the room. Then he answered her "They kidnapped Bastila."

"What?" said Juhani in disbelief. "How?"

"It's Davik." Revan answered. "He's been working with them all along."

"Davik?" said Mission. "He helped them take her?"

"Yes." said Revan.

"That bastard!" shouted Canderous. "I knew we should have left him on Taris to rot!"

"That would have been a good idea." said Zaalbar. "We never should have trusted him in the first place."

"Right now, we just need to focus on rescuing Bastila." said Revan. "B-4D4, T1-N1, go through the communications logs and look for any transmissions that may have been sent out by Davik during the past month."

The two droids went to the communications array and got to work on their assignment. Revan got up and told everyone else to get to work and prepare for the day.

After searching through a month's worth of logs, B-4D4 and T1-N1 found something promising.

"Master, it would appear that Davik either deleted or wiped all the logs he has sent off of the records." B-4D4 reported. "However, he wasn't so successful in purging one of the logs completely."

"Good." said Revan. "Were you able to learn anything about his plans from that log?"

"Unfortunately, no." said B-4D4. "Almost all of it had been erased. However, we were able to pinpoint the location of the other end of the line."

"Excellent." said Revan. "Where did they come from?"

"Beep Beeeeeep Bop-Beep Beep Bop (It came from a privately-owned business complex located fifty miles from here)." T1-N1 answered. "Beep Beep-Bop Boooop Beeep-Beeeeeee (The designation of the complex is Rtomos Utjel.)

"Alright then." said Revan. "Mira, Hanharr, what do you know about a place called Rtomos Utjel?"

"Only that it's the largest bounty-collecting market on Nar Shaddaa." Mira answered. "It's also the heart of the Exchange."

"Both of us went there frequently when we were still bounty hunters." Hanharr told Revan. "Many bounty hunter groups use that district as their base of operations."

"Including the Ruthless Ones?" assumed Revan.

Hanharr and Mira nodded. Everybody reassembled in the main hold. Revan had the holograph imaging unit bring up a schematic of the Rtomos Utjel District. It had over twenty buildings, and each one marked a different field of bounty.

"Which building did the communiqué originate from?" asked Revan.

"That one." said B-4D4, pointing out a tall edifice near the center of the building cluster.

"The Jedi Field of Bounty." noted Carth. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Probably because none of us are either." Canderous replied sarcastically.

"Clearly they've been planning this for a long time." Visas speculated.

"There were logs that indicated that Davik had been in contact with those bounty hunters for longer than a month." said B-4D4.

"So, Davik betrayed us before we even entered this region of space?" said Mical.

"No, he didn't betray us then." Revan corrected him. "He was never one of us to begin with. We found evidence in his room that he has been planning this ever since he allowed us to come on board. He didn't let us come along because he felt sympathetic; he let us come along just to hand us over to the Exchange later."

There was utter silence in that room for a long time. Finally, Revan said that he would be contacting Governor Refas and organizing a meeting with him as soon as possible.

Fifty miles away, the small ship arrived at the Rtomos Utjel. It pulled in to a hanger at the building marked "Jedi Field." Davik and the three other men that had taken Bastila hostage landed the ship and exited the craft with their prize.

Bastila was forcefully led over to a turbolift and taken up a few floors to. Davik led the group all the way to a room that had a single occupant in it. It was a young Human woman of about thirty years of age. She sat at a desk looking over a progress diagram when the others came into the room. She then looked up at them and said "Well, you actually made it."

"You sound surprised." said Davik. "It almost sounds like you believed we could not pull it off."

"You never know." said the woman, getting up and walking around the desk. "Jedi can be very unpredictable."

"That is an understatement." said Davik.

The woman approached Davik and looked up at him. They just smiled at each other. Then they embraced and pecked each other on the list. As Bastila watched, she thought _This is a most unusual sight. Why would a thirty-year old woman kiss a man who is almost twice her age?_

When the couple came apart, both of them turned their attention towards Bastila.

"Oh, I believe introductions are in order." said Davik. "Unala, this is Bastila Shan of the Jedi Order. Bastila, this is-"

"Unala Rewtiz." said Bastila, recognizing the woman's voice from the communicator from the attack on the _Ebon Hawk_.

"The very same." said Unala.

Davik gestured to the three men behind him and said "These are three of our top men: Feirad, Widoki, and Hodstin."

"I thought I sent five of you out." Unala said to the three men.

"Revan killed Tirsom and Chaspre." Widoki explained.

"You mean Revan actually caught you in the act?" said Unala.

"That is correct." Hodstin confirmed.

"We even lived to tell the tale." Feirad added in.

"Too bad about Chaspre and Tirsom, though." said Davik. "Oh, well, that just makes more bounty for the rest of us."

"Correct me if I am wrong, but is it not illegal to hunt a pregnant woman?" said Bastila.

"Yes, it is." said Unala. "But it's not you that we're going to hand over to the market first. Your husband and the others will be first."

"Just how to you intend to capture them?" said Bastila. "They are not fools."

"Simple." said Unala. "We'll use bait: you."

"Me?"

"Revan would never let anything happen to his wife, especially when she's carrying his child." Davik explained.

"And what of my child?" said Bastila.

"That won't be your concern." said Unala.

"I'm warning you." Bastila muttered bitterly. "If any harm should come to my child, all of you will regret the moment you had your first breath."

"Take her into the next room." Davik ordered the other three men, ignoring her threat.

The men nodded and took Bastila into a dark room and only one entrance/exit. Then they locked the door and left her in there alone.

Governor Refas had been asleep in his bed with his wife at this time in the morning. A panel on his nightstand abruptly started beeping. It beeped until the Governor woke up and pressed it. He said to it "What is it?"

"There's a communiqué coming in for you, Governor." said Iomori from the other end.

"Can it wait?" said Refas.

"Apparently not, sir." Iomori answered. "It's a high-priority message from the _Ebon Hawk_."

"Alright, then." said Refas. He rose from his bed in his sleeping attire. His wife, Tiopia, still slept soundly. Refas moved to his desk in that room and sat down. He said over the channel to Iomori "Put it through."

The panel on his desk was activated and a communications line to the _Ebon Hawk _was opened. Revan said on the other end "Am I disturbing you, Governor?"

Refas scoffed and replied "No, five hours of sleep is all I need."

"Well then, I'm sorry to wake you," said Revan, "but I have urgent news."

"I'm listening." said Refas.

"We've discovered a traitor amongst our crew." Revan answered. "Our intelligence officer, Davik Kang, has been in league with many bounty hunters on Nar Shaddaa this whole time."

"How did you uncover this information?" inquired Refas.

"We searched through the communications logs; he's been in constant contact with many different groups." Revan answered. "And he and five bounty hunters just kidnapped Bastila."

"Oh, no." said the shocked Governor. "When did this happen?"

"Just under an hour ago." said Revan.

"What do you remember of it?" asked Refas.

"Four men made a delivery here. Davik and Bastila were outside conducting business with the merchants. Sometime during the delivery, I heard some shouting and something that sounded like a ship landing. I was in my quarters at that time. But I rushed outside and saw two of the men forcing my wife inside a small ship."

"Were you able to identify which group they are affiliated with?" inquired Refas.

"I was forced to kill two of the five men in self-defense." said Revan. "We've been able to determine that they were members of the Ruthless Ones."

"Damnit." said Refas. "What else were you able to uncover?"

"We tracked the communications logs to somewhere in the Rtomos Utjel district." said Revan. "We've got plans to go there and save Bastila. Once we've saved her, we're getting off this planet and going after that Sith Fleet."

"I will send Commandant Higner and his squad to join you." said Refas. "They'll be bringing along a ship to transport both themselves and you. We'll have to use another ship; the _Ebon Hawk _can't just go flying into the Rtomos Utjel district. You'd be attacked and boarded immediately."

"Thank you, Governor." said Revan. "Before I close this line, there's something I'd like to say."

"I'm listening." said Refas.

"I am very grateful for all you have done for me and my crew." said Revan. "And I want you to know that your governorship is the greatest thing that ever happened to this planet."

"Thank you for that." said Refas. "By the way, should you ever return to Nar Shaddaa, I hope that you will have a much better stay than the one you had this time around. You'll be welcomed back here by me."

"I thank you again." said Revan. "Goodnight and good-bye, governor."

The communications line was closed and Refas went to issue the orders to Commandant Higner to assemble his platoon.

Back on the _Obliterator_, the Hundred Apprentices were in the middle of their leisure hours. The Council of Iniquity was still meditating. Most of the apprentices preferred to spend their leisure time either in groups or alone, but Cujjon was spending his with Milory in her quarters.

He had never been in anyone else's quarters before. In fact, it was indirectly out of style for Dark Jedi trainees to be in an acquaintance's quarters for anything other than work. But he had decided that the circumstances permitted him to be in Milory's quarters.

The two of them spent some time talking about their personal lives. They had a lot in common: Both of them had lost their parents when they were very young, both of them had been entered the Sith Academy when they had had nowhere else to turn, and both of them had been lonely most for all of their lives. Cujjon had no real friends amongst the Hundred Apprentices, and Enya was Milory's only friend, but she knew Enya would betray her if it suited her own benefit.

During their time in Milory's quarters, the two of them found that their feelings for each other were drastically changing. They were generating a more affectionate atmosphere ever since they had started their relationship two weeks earlier.

Cujjon and Milory just looked into each other's eyes. Slowly, they closed their eyes and started to bring their faces closer together. When their lips were just two inches apart, an announcement came over the loudspeaker "Attention all members of the Hundred Apprentices. Assemble in the training ground immediately. The Council of Iniquity has ended its meditation session and has issued an order for an audience with you."

Cujjon and Milory quickly departed from the latter's quarters and made their way to the training grounds. They already had on their uniforms, so they had no need to change. You see, even on their leisure time, the Hundred Apprentices wore their uniforms. The reason for this was simple: wearing their uniform reminded them that they were followers of the Dark Side before everything else.

The students were lined up in five rows of twenty in the training room. Cujjon was one of the ones in the front row. Admiral Togrel was there, along with dozens of guards standing at the walls of the room. All eleven members of the Council of Iniquity were standing before the Hundred Apprentices.

Darth Nigtisus approached the large group and announced "I have urgent news that all of you must take note of. Several days ago, one of our patrol ships rejoined our armada after conducting a surveillance mission. They returned with troubling information: The Republic is searching for us."

There were mutters between many of the students all throughout the rows. A few such as Cujjon remained silent.

Nigtisus raised his hand in the air. The room fell quiet again. Then the Sith Lord continued "Captain Gomack and his men have been able to determine that the Republic is sending out only one ship to hunt for us. But they have also happened to acquire evidence that there are Jedi in the group."

There was more muttering amongst the pupils. Nigtisus did not have to raise his hand for silence this time; the students hushed themselves on their own.

Nigtisus looked around at the Hundred Apprentices and told them "I am sure I don't need to remind you that if this ship were to find us, they will be able to transmit our coordinates directly to their entire fleet. Destroying the ship afterwards would make little difference; within ten minutes of their transmission we'd have at least one entire Republic armada pursuing us."

"What shall we do, my Lord?" asked Admiral Togrel.

"The Council has come up with a plan, Admiral." Nigtisus answered. He looked back at the Hundred Apprentices and told them "We want twenty of you to go out and search for this ship. Volunteers will gain sufficient prestige for a promotion upon their return."

Nigtisus moved closer to the rows of the students and raised his arm in the air. Across the room, one of the soldiers entered a command sequence into a console. A long line of light started emanating from the area in front of Nigtisus. It extended all the way from one end of the room to the other. Nigtisus looked around at the Hundred Students and told them "If you wish to volunteer for this task, step past the line."

No one moved forward instantaneously. Then one of the students from the back row moved to the front and walked past the line. He bowed and said "I will accept, sir."

Nigtisus gave the student an approving nod. He turned to the others and asked "Is there no one here but Apprentice Ynom who will accept this task?"

Other the next five minutes, seventeen more of the Hundred Apprentices walked past the line. They had stepped past the line one by one. Once those eighteen people had stepped forward, no one else made a move. Nigtisus looked around and asked "Are there two more among you who would accept this task?"

Finally, Milory stepped forward, bowed, and said "I will accept, Master Nigtisus."

"Excellent, Apprentice Milory."

Cujjon suddenly felt a wave of uneasiness pass through him. He had come to have certain feelings for Milory in the short time he had gotten to know her. These feelings were secret and kept from everyone else, but they had told him that he could not let anything happen to Milory.

He knew that it would be pointless to talk her out of her decision, so he did the next best way to assert himself about her well-being. He stepped across the line, bowed as low as he could while standing, and said "I will accept, my Lord."

Nigtisus grinned at the star pupil. He dismissed the eighty apprentices who had remained on the other side of the line, leaving just the twenty volunteers in the room. He approached them and told them "The rest of the Council and I have been in deep meditation for the past fifteen days. The Force has told us much about your road ahead. I must caution you that it will be a dangerous one. You will be on your own away from the rest of the fleet. But you must find this Republic vessel and destroy it. Do I make myself clear?"

The twenty trainees answered in unison "Yes, Lord Nigtisus."


	18. To The Rescue

An hour later, Commander Zyn was debriefing the twenty trainees who had volunteered for the assignment of hunting down the ship that was searching for the fleet. Cujjon and Milory sat next to each other during the debriefing. They were paying close attention to everything Commander Zyn was telling them, and they absorbed every detail of her lecture. However, they were also thinking about each other in the back of their minds.

Once Zyn was finished debriefing them, she led them to the_ Obliterator's_ main shuttle bay. There she presented them a whole set of new Sith warships. These warships had the characteristics of being light, agile, and very efficient in confronting hostile forces. However, like the preceding warship model, their maximum crew complement was only five.

"We'll be providing you with four of these warships for this mission." Zyn told the Apprentices. "In addition to testing your skills in battle, the purpose of this mission will also be to test your ability to function together and maintain a stable hierarchy."

One of the female apprentices raised her hand in the air. Zyn pointed to her and asked "Do you have a question, Apprentice Ginosa?"

"Yes I do, Commander," the Apprentice replied, "What do you mean when you say 'a hierarchy?' Don't we all have the same rank?"

Zyn nodded, both to answer Ginosa's question, and to confirm that she understood the point she was making. "Indeed you do. However, for this mission, we will be forming a chain of command between all of you. It will be based upon how high your experience and influence are in the eyes of the Council of Iniquity."

Zyn looked around at the Apprentices and told them "That being said, Apprentice Cujjon will be in command of the lead ship."

"Yes, Commander," Cujjon acknowledged her order.

Zyn went through assigning the other nineteen Apprentices to each of the four ships. Milory and Cujjon did not end up getting assigned to the same ship.

When she was finished assigning everyone to his or her ship, she told them "I want all of you to go to bed early tonight. You'll be leaving first thing in the morning."

Everyone except Cujjon nodded and departed from the hanger bay. Zyn noticed that Cujjon had remained behind, and she asked him "Is there something I can do for you, Apprentice Cujjon?"

"Yes, there is, Commander," was his response. "I wish to submit a request for a swap to be made in the crew complement of two of the ships."

"How so?" inquired Zyn.

"I would like for you to replace Appentice Ittran on my ship." Cujjon answered. "I do believe that she is a capable pilot, but probably not fit to pilot the lead ship of the group."

"Who would you recommend to replace her?" asked Zyn.

"Well, I have noticed how Apprentice Milory is a very excellent Conn Officer." Cujjon pointed out. "In the past, she has demonstrated proper use of how to pilot a ship and manage its motor functions. I believe that she would make a capable replacement."

"I would have to agree with you that Milory is a superb pilot," Zyn admitted, "but the Council has not given her the necessary prestige to operate on the lead ship."

"What use would prestige be when it comes to piloting a ship?" Cujjon debated.

Zyn was a little surprised to hear Cujjon say that. She told him "Cujjon, while I myself have no Jedi training, I do know well that prestige should be of great importance to you and your fellow Apprentices."

"Prestige is everything to me, Commander." Cujjon responded. "However, I am merely stating what I believe, and I believe that Milory is a better pilot than Ittran."

Zyn stood there thinking for a few moments. Then she told Cujjon "I will consider your request. But I can give you no guarantee that I will agree to it."

Cujjon nodded and said "That is all I ask, Commander; that you think about it."

Cujjon turned around, left the shuttle bay, and went to his quarters to get some rest. He still could not believe that within twelve hours he was going to be in charge of a mission without any aid from his superiors.

Back on Nar Shaddaa, Revan organized his crew into two different groups. One of them would be accompanying him and Commandant Higner to the Rtomos Utjel district in their rescue attempt. The other would be staying at the _Ebon Hawk _and preparing for its departure as soon as the first team returned.

The first team was composed of Revan, T3-M4, Mandalore, HK-47, Hanharr, Mira, and GO-TO. Some others like Visas, Jolee, Juhani, and Atton had requested to come along, but Revan had downright refused. He told them his reasoning: he would not risk the lives of other Jedi in such a large bounty hunting district. The only reason he was bringing Mira along was because she had been to the Rtomos Utjel district before, and therefore, she knew the layout of the place.

Commandant Higner arrived with his squad about seven hours later. Somehow Revan had managed to stay put for that long, but each minute he waited felt like an hour.

Anyway, Commandant Higner and his men had brought along a ship that was able to transport fifty people at once. After the eight people from the _Ebon Hawk_ and Commandant Higner's team were inside, they set off in the direction of the Rtomos Utjel province.

They flew their ship through the area ten minutes later. As they hovered over the area, Higner asked Revan "Which building is the one that transmitted messages to and from Davik?"

Looking out the front of the ship, Revan gazed at the clusters of buildings and finally spotted the one they were searching for. He pointed to it and said "That one."

"Bring us in." Higner said to his pilot. "Send them a message that we are docking there."

"Yes, sir." said the pilot.

The Darcipient Order ship was brought into the hanger of the Jedi Field building. Once they had landed, Higner explained his plan to his men. A third of them would seek out the power core and deactivate it. After that, they would have about fifteen minutes until the emergency lights kicked in. Another third would go and look for Bastila. The remaining third would stay in the ship and monitor the progress made by the rest of the squad.

Mira, GO-TO, Mandalore, and T3-M4 would be accompanying the first team. Revan, Hanharr, and HK-47 would be following the second one.

Once the plan had been laid out, the first two teams departed from the shuttle and went for two different turbolifts.

While they were still in the hanger, Revan stopped the groups and pointed out "There's the ship that Davik and those men came in."

Mandalore said "I'm going to take a look at it. The rest of you go on without me. I'll catch up in a few minutes."

Then the teams moved out. When the first team got into a turbolift, Mona said "If I remember correctly, the power core is located twelve floors down. We must head there."

The turbolift brought the group all the way down to level 16. Once there, they made their way to the power core. But along the way, they encountered some workmen who felt the need to ask everyone questions on that level.

GO-TO in the end said "Enough of this. We need to deactivate the power core as quickly as possible."

Then they just passed by everyone without another word.

Hanharr had taken the second team five floors up to level on which people were detained until the dealers arrive. When they arrived on level 33, they began searching through the corridors with rapid speed. A few people along the way kept stopping them and asking them questions like on the sixteenth floor.

Finally, HK-47 got tired of this and said to one of the men "Statement: If you know what's good for you, stand aside and allow us to go on our way."

"What does that mean?" said the man.

"Condescending Explanation: When I say stand aside, I mean get out of my way before I force you to."

"Are you threatening me?" said the person, drawing a weapon.

"Mocking Query: Why would I ever want to do that?" said HK-47.

The bounty hunter pulled out a blaster rifle and said "I'm warning you, you pile of bolts; take that back or you'll be shipped off to a junkyard within the next few minutes."

Hanharr then whispered to Revan "We don't have time for this crap."

Then Hanharr stepped forward, picked up the bounty hunter, and threw him almost sixty feet down the corridor. This alerted other bounty hunters on that deck. Many bounty hunters armed themselves and started searching the corridors for the group.

Revan sighed and drew his lightsaber. He said to Hanharr "I was hoping to keep a low profile while we were here, but this is acceptable."

HK-47 held his blaster rifle in both hands and said "Confident Gesture: We will show them the meaning of the word 'pain.'"

Revan activated his lightsaber and the members of the Darcipient Order armed themselves. Then they ran through the corridors and fought everyone they ran into.

Soon, everyone on that level was aware of the Darcipient Order's presence. However, Revan's presence was of greater interest to most of the people there.

Back in the room in which Bastila was being held prisoner, about twenty-three people had gathered. Davik turned to Unala and said "You must run. I will handle Revan."

"I won't let you encounter him alone." said Unala. "He's a legendary Jedi."

"But I know how he fights." said Davik. "I can't risk losing you to him."

Unala smiled up at her and said "Alright then."

The two of them kissed and Unala departed from the room with a few of the men there. The majority stayed with Davik.

Back on level 16, a similar conflict had broken out. A skirmish had ensued in the power core room. By then Mandalore had rejoined the group. While the members of the Darcipient Order fought against the security men and other bounty hunters in that room, Mira and the others stood off to the side and she explained her plan: "We need to shut down the power grid, but in order to do that, we'll need to access three different workstations. One of them is at the top of the room on that rail over there. GO-TO, seeing as how you can go against gravity, you'll take that one. Another of the workstations is in an emergency conduit. But the only way in there is a small crawlspace. T3-M4, you'll easily be able to access that one. The third and final one is out in the open, right in the center of the fight. Mandalore, you'll handle that one. Your armor should protect you from most of the shots being fired. I'll cover you to ensure that you can work uninterrupted."

The two droids and the Mandalorian understood Mira's plan. The four of them split up. GO-TO floated to the top of the room to the first workstation and went to work. T3-M4 went through the crawlspace to the second terminal and started shutting it down. Mandalore ran out into the center of the battle to the third panel and quickly accessed the main command functions. Mira activated her lightsaber and stood in-between Mandalore and the bounty hunters. Every shot fired at Mandalore was deflected back by Mira.

Finally, after three minutes, all of the terminals had been shut down. The power grid went offline and virtually all of the lights went out. Pretty soon, all the bounty hunters and security men on that level had been neutralized.

When the skirmish was over, Mira said into her communicator "Revan, the power grid is down."

"Excellent work, Mira." said Revan. "Get everybody in your team back to the ship. We'll meet you back there soon."

"Understood." said Mira. She announced "Let's move!" and the group headed to the turbolifts. Fortunately for them, the turbolifts had their own power source, so they weren't shut down like everything else in that building.

Back on Deck 33, dozens of bounty hunters were engaging Revan's team in combat. However, few of them could see anything. Revan and his team were a different story. Each member of the Darcipient Order had night-vision goggles on. Hanharr's homeworld, Kashyyyk, was barely ever light, so seeing in the dark was an inherent ability in his people. HK-47's visual subroutines had programmed him with night-vision, and the Force allowed Revan to see clearly in front of him. The bounty hunters had no night-vision goggles, no inherent night-vision, no artificial advantages, and absolutely no training in the Force. The only thing they could see was the blue beam of light that was Revan's lightsaber.

During the battle, Revan stopped and said to Hanharr "I sense Bastila is close. Come with me."

Hanharr nodded and followed the Jedi to a certain room, killing everyone in their path. Once they were in that room, they could make out many figures in there. Upon looking more closely, they recognized one of them as Davik.

"Welcome." said Davik sardonically. "You have entered the Room of Fate. You will either be leaving it a dead, free man or a live, enslaved one."

"I would rather take the former." said Revan.

"I'll make you a deal, Revan." said Davik. "In spite of how many of my men you've already killed, I am willing to spare both you and Bastila. I will allow you to stay together with your child when I put you on the market. I can assure you that you will never be separated from each other. What do say to that?"

"I say that you are a pompous coward." said Revan. "And you must be senile if you believe I will raise my child to be a slave."

Davik shrugged and said "Very well." He turned to his men and said "Kill them."

The sixteen men in that room took their weapons and charged at the Jedi and the Wookiee. At first, fighting them was a futile effort. Three of them had been killed in the first ten seconds alone. But then Revan discovered that their blades could not be broken by lightsabers; Davik had gone to the trouble of manufacturing unbreakable vibroswords!

Even then, the advantage still went to Revan and Hanharr. But during the fight, Hanharr's back was turned on one of their adversaries. The bounty hunter took advantage of this moment and stabbed Hanharr in the back with his vibrosword. Hanharr roared in fury and in anguish. He turned around and grabbed the bounty hunter by this throat. With one horrific move, he tore the man's lungs out and dropped him on the ground.

Then Hanharr seemed to be weakening. He dropped to his knees and then onto his face.

"Hanharr!" shouted Revan. By then, there were only three more bounty hunters still alive in that room. Revan quickly eliminated them. Once he had, he went over to the Wookiee on the ground. He tried to revive him, but Hanharr was already dead.

Revan looked up at Davik and said angrily "You'll pay for this, you bastard."

Davik grinned and said "We shall see." Then he drew two vibroswords and waved them around with impressive agility and speed. Facing Revan, he said "Did you think I was just a helpless, defenseless old man? Think again."

Revan held his lightsaber with both hands and faced Davik in the dark. Then the duel began. Davik's vibroswords were also indestructible. He delivered many fierce blows with them, but Revan was quickly able to calculate a pattern based on his moves.

Clearly Davik had some experience fighting in the dark. He was able to focus clearly on his moves and attack Revan with the blades.

Throughout the duel, Revan continued to look for a weakness that stood out in Davik's moves. But he had no luck in the first five minutes.

Finally, Revan spotted a weak place in Davik's body arm just under his right arm. After dodging two more blows, Revan jumped over Davik and slashed him under the right arm. Davik yelped and dropped to his knees. Revan moved to the front and stabbed him in the chest with his lightsaber. Davik shouted in agony. Just before Revan pulled his lightsaber back out, Davik died. He fell onto his back. His eyes were wide open and his mouth agape.

A few moments later, some people came into the room. Revan turned to face them with his lightsaber in the air, but he lowered it when he realized they were just a few members of the Darcipient Order.

"All the bounty hunters on this level have been eliminated, sir." one of them reported.

"Good work." said Revan.

He turned to the door in the room. He slowly approached it and entered the command to open the door. There he saw his wife sitting on a bench with her hands behind her back. Revan ran over to Bastila and had her turn around. He sliced off her restraints, freeing her arms. Once they were free, they looked each other in the eyes.

"You came for me." Bastila uttered suddenly.

"I would have fought every bounty hunter in this building to save you." her husband responded.

The other of them embraced each other firmly at the entrance of the holding cell. But then Bastila started clutching her lower chest. Revan noticed this and asked her "Are you alright?"

"Revan, I believe it is time." she said.

"Time for what?" said Revan.

Bastila just gestured downward and said "**Time**."

Revan quickly realized what she was referring to. He turned to the men in the room and said "We have to get out of here and back to the _Ebon Hawk_. Bastila's going into labor."


	19. A New Crewmember

Revan turned to his wife and said "I thought you were not due for another few days."

"Apparently we have miscalculated." Bastila speculated. "Regardless, we must leave this place and return to our ship."

Revan nodded and ordered the men to move out. But there was one matter of business he needed to address: he wanted Hanharr's body to be taken back. He refused to leave it to rot in that building. He believed that the Wookiee deserved a proper memorial service. Four of the Darcipient Order agreed to carry the body back to the ship. Revan did not even glimpse at Davik's body or consider bringing it back.

Revan helped Bastila make her way to the turbolift. Once everybody was inside, they rode the lift back down to the main hanger. They started backing their way to the ship. But when they were halfway there, they heard a few shots come from behind them.

Revan and the others saw Unala and a few other bounty hunters coming out of another turbolift. They were firing at them using standard blaster rifles. The weapons were durable, but the aim of the bounty hunters left something to be desired.

A few of the members of the Darcipient Order trailed behind in the rescue team and fired at the bounty hunters. One of the members was hit. He groaned and dropped to the ground, holding his shoulder with his free hand. But the shot had only grazed him in that place. Two of his colleages were able to drag him to the ship.

Finally, everyone made it back to the ship relatively unharmed. Mira and her team had already returned from level 16. A few of the people from Revan's team and Mira's team had been wounded, but with the exception of Hanharr, no one had been killed.

"Let's get out of here!" shouted Revan once everyone was inside.

"I couldn't agree more." said Higner. He turned to the pilot and said "Take us out!"

The door to the ship was sealed and the engines were powered up. After everyone was in their seats, the ship slowly started to rise into the air. Then it turned around to the part of the hanger that had no wall and flew out.

The Darcipient Order ship flew away from the Rtomos Utjel district. During the flight, Mira had a sudden realization. She proclaimed to the others "They may try to follow us in that ship of theirs! Their ship may appear small, but one can see it is heavily armed!"

"I don't think they'll follow us." said Mandalore, grinning wickedly behind his helmet. "I left something behind for them in that ship when I went to study it. They'll be in for a little surprise when they try to take off in it."

The bounty hunters had indeed gotten into their ship and were preparing it for launch. They had decided that they were going to go after the crew of the _Ebon Hawk_ and prevent them from leaving the planet. At that moment, they didn't care if the Jedi lived or died. Unala just felt a strong vindictive desire to make Revan suffer for Davik's death.

Unala sat in the co-pilot chair while Widoki sat in the pilot seat. Feirad, Hodstin, and the other men stood in the back working on the engines.

"Alright, I'm bringing us up." Widoki announced.

Just before liftoff, Unala noticed a flashing icon coming from the panel monitoring the weapons and artillery banks. She turned to Widoki and asked him "What does this indicate?"

He took a moment to glimpse at the flashing light, and following that he abruptly yelled "Oh, shi-"

The ship exploded while it was still on the ground. Unala and everyone else inside was killed instantly. Evidently, Mandalore's "little surprise" had been most effective.

Ten minutes later, Commandant Higner's ship had returned to the _Ebon Hawk_. While Mira and Mandalore helped Bastila up the ramp to the ship, Revan had one last piece of business to take care of with Commandant Higner. After the Commandant's men had taken Hanharr's body into the ship and returned to the platform, Revan said "Commandant, I wish to thank you for all you and your men have done for us during our stay."

Higner said with a smirk "It is always an honor to work with a Jedi."

"Please give my regards to the Governor." Revan requested.

"I shall." Higner promised. After the two of them shook hands, he announced to his men "We're moving out!" They piled back into their ship and left the landing platform.

Revan went back up the exit ramp and ordered Atton "It's time to leave. Get us off this planet."

Atton nodded and said "With pleasure."

Atton went to the front of the ship and sat down at the pilot seat. With Bastila in the medical bay at that time, Carth took over at navigations.

Atton contacted the engine room and asked "T3, are the engines up and running?"

T3-M4's response was "Beeep Beep-Bop Bop Beeeee (Yes, they're at optimal efficiency)."

"Good." said Atton. He focused his attention on the helm and made some adjustments. He said to Carth "Do we have navigations?"

Carth worked at his post and said "They're online."

"Good." Atton gripped the controls and called back to the main hold "Hang on! I'm taking us up!"

The _Ebon Hawk _slowly started to ascend into the air. The landing clamps were retracted and the ship turned toward the sky. The _Ebon Hawk_ flew upward and out of the planet's atmosphere. After the _Ebon Hawk _entered space, Revan had Atton and Carth bring the hyperdrive online for approximately twenty seconds. Once it had been twenty seconds, they would deactivate the hyperdrive and hold position wherever they were.

Revan's reason for this was that he wanted to be far away from Nar Shaddaa when his child was born. After they were millions of miles away, he went to the medical bay to join his wife. Bastila had changed into a patient's robe and was lying down on one of the beds.

Mical had been attending to her. He told Revan "Her contractions are still quite a bit of time apart, but every one of them is coming sooner than the one before it. Now is definitely the time when your child will be born, Revan."

Revan was trying to contain his excitement, but for him, that was about as easy as a crime lord trying to contain his greed. When Revan had been a Sith Lord, he had been responsible for destroying many lives. But on this day, he would be responsible for creating another one with Bastila Shan; the kindest, noblest Jedi he had ever known.

"About how long do you think it will take, Mical?" inquired Revan.

"I am unsure." Mical answered truthfully. "The birthing process can take days, but based upon Bastila's contractions, I would say it will be sometime within the next six hours."

"Six whole hours?" said Bastila, who was still lying down on the nearest bed.

"It may be even sooner." Mical told her. "I have noticed in many a case that the calmer the mother is during the hours of labor, the sooner the child is born. And based upon the years of discipline and peace you've been in during your time as a Jedi, it won't be long at all."

"At any rate, I'm sure there will be no difficulties." Revan assumed.

"Oh no, not at all." said Mical. "I ran a medical diagnostic on Bastila. She and the baby are doing rather well. And I'm happy to announce that your baby will be a very healthy one."

Revan couldn't help it; he burst into a wide grin. He looked down at Bastila and saw that she was grinning back.

Jolee was standing at the doorframe. He smiled and said "You kids must be more excited than you've been in your whole lives. And I don't need the Force to tell me that."

"Thank you for noticing, Jolee." said Revan. "Did you ever consider having children when you were younger?"

"Well, my wife and I did make plans for that a few times," said Jolee, "but we never got around to it. It's something I regret from time to time. But on the plus side, I was able to live in peace during all those years of my isolation on Kashyyyk."

"That's understandable." said Revan.

Mical turned to Revan and said "It's still going to be a few hours before Bastila gives birth, Revan. Perhaps you should get something to eat. Bastila, it would be wise for you to have some food as well."

"Alright." said Revan. He just remembered that the time was very early in the morning. He realized that he was indeed hungry. So he went to the cargo hold and brought back something for himself and Bastila. While they ate, they took time to talk about their plans for after their child's birth.

"I can have Carth take over navigations for a while." Revan offered. "I'll give you a week of maternity leave from your duties at navigations. Or I can make it more if you'd like. After you're ready to return to your position, I can have Carth work there part time. That way, we can spend time with our child together."

Bastila grinned and said "I appreciate the gesture, but I would prefer to have my own place at the course-plotting station. Besides, you should focus on assigning the jobs Davik and Hanharr had to other members of the crew."

"You're right." Revan agreed. He took a moment to think, and in the end he decided that Mandalore would take on the task of Tactical Officer, Mission would take on the role of Intelligence Officer, and Bao-Dur would double as the Chief of Operations.

"Who do you think we ask to be the godparents?" asked Bastila.

"Perhaps Mona and Atton." Revan suggested. "And who knows? Maybe they'll ask us to be the godparents of their child as well."

"We'd like that." said a voice behind him.

Revan turned to the door and saw Mona and Atton standing in the frame. They had just come by to pay Bastila and Revan a visit.

"Well, all I can say right now is 'good luck.'" said Atton.

"We are both very happy for the two of you." said Mona.

"Thank you." said Bastila. "We will let you know when the child has been born."

Bastila did not want anyone in the room with her except Revan and Mical. Mical would be delivering the child, and Revan would be there holding her hand the whole time.

Finally, the child came. Mical had helped her get into the birthing position and was at the opposite end of the bed. He was instructing her step by step: "Alright, Bastila; remember to take nice and easy deep breaths. You must remain calm."

Bastila nodded. She trusted Mical completely, but she was still somewhat apprehensive. She looked at her husband, who was holding her hand with no intention of letting it go until after the birthing process was complete. He could see that his wife was indeed a little afraid, but he helped her remember that there was nothing to fear.

During her years of Jedi training, Bastila had been trained in great measures to resist pain of various magnitudes. But none of them had prepared her for something such as giving birth. Granted, Jedi were never supposed to have children, let alone marry, but she had found a way to feel love and keep a disciplined mind built around the Force at the same time.

Getting back to reality, the baby was making its way out of Bastila's womb. Bastila started taking in deeper breaths with every passing moment. Then she let out a brief yelp of pain. But the yelp was quite and lasted only two seconds. However, as the child progressed, Bastila's yelps got slightly louder and longer every time.

Mical was still there at the opposite end of the bed with his arms outstretched. He said "You're doing great, Bastila. I can see the head. "

Bastila continued to push. She pushed harder and harder. Revan sat next to her holding her hand firmly. He knew that Bastila was strong and that she would easily make it through this, but part of him still worried for her.

Mical kept monitoring her progress. A few moments later, he said "Alright, one more large push and you're done!"

Bastila gave a shout and pushed harder than she ever had before. Then it was all over. She heard her child cooing quietly. She looked at her husband and weakly smiled. Revan leaned over and kissed his wife softly on the cheek.

Mical announced "You have a son!" Revan smiled back at his wife and whispered "You did wonderfully."

She nodded in agreement as Mical severed the umbilical cord, tied it, wiped the baby clean, wrapped him warmly in a blanket, and placed him in an incubator. He then moved over to the bed, cleaned up the afterbirth, and helped Bastila into a more comfortable position. After he had accomplished this, he took the baby back out of the incubator and placed him in his mother's arms.

Bastila gazed into her newborn son's eyes and smiled contently. Revan noticed some tears of joy were coming to her eye. He felt more of them coming to his own eyes. He leaned over next to his wife and placed his hand on her shoulder. Bastila handed him their son. Revan held him close and smiled down at him.

"Have you decided what to name him?" inquired Mical, entering the child's time of birth into the ship's medical database.

Revan and Bastila had not yet decided on a name. But soon they decided to name him after their fathers. His first name would be Danrim, after Revan's father, and his middle name would be Tuloc, after Bastila's father. They decided that Danrim Tuloc Shan Skywalker had a certain appeal to it.

(Note: I've decided to make Revan's full name Revan Skywalker. I thought it would be interesting to have one famous Jedi be an ancestor of another famous Jedi.)


	20. Strongly Held Together

A few days later, Bastila was back on her feet and back to work at her station. At first, Revan tried to convince to remain in the medical bay for a few more days, but Mical assured him that she was already fit to return to duty. After a while, Revan admitted that he was being a tad overprotective of his wife.

Several members of the crew were amazed by how active Bastila had become once Mical had released her from her time on maternity leave. Apparently her Jedi training had been more beneficial to her than anyone had thought. In the first year of their training, Jedi Apprentices were taught to be resilient. Bastila had easily met this requirement, and one could determine that she had always kept it.

Revan especially admired how quickly she had lost the baby weight. She was easily able to fit back into her Jedi Knight robes. At first glance, one would not have guessed that she had given birth, as she had maintained her figure so gracefully. This was something Revan found rather peculiar… and somewhat stimulating at the same time.

When she was released from the medical bay, Bastila scheduled a few combat sessions with Brianna to test her skills. For the first five weeks of her pregnancy, she had been able to fight and train with her lightsaber, but after that, the risk of a miscarriage was too high for her to continue. But now that Danrim had been born, she was totally qualified to resume the use of her lightsaber.

At their first training session, Brianna let Bastila know that she would go easy on her, seeing as how she had not used her lightsaber for close to eight months. They put their lightsabers in training mode and began their spar. To Brianna's astonishment (and in some ways, Bastila's, too), just five seconds after the match began, Brianna was on the ground with Bastila standing triumphantly over her. Brianna quickly learned that it was unwise to underestimate Bastila Shan under any circumstances.

Getting back to the _Ebon Hawk_'s mission, the ship spent the next few days going over the information they had accumulated on Nar Shaddaa. They were actually surprised by the remarkable amount of data that had been given to them. Dozens, if not hundreds of people, had heard rumors of authentic origin about the presence of Sith patrol ships in the region. Very few people had intercepted any rumors about an entire fleet, but the _Ebon Hawk _crew was satisfied with what they had managed to acquire.

However, when putting that information to use, they were somewhat disappointed with their findings. They searched all throughout the Nal Hutta system, but there was no sign of Sith activity anywhere within that region of space. It was almost as if all the Sith had just disappeared and that the rumors about them were inaccurate. That was what a common crew of soldiers would be led to believe. But Revan and the rest of the crew knew better; someone- or something- had tipped the Sith off.

Once they had finished their survey of the Nal Hutta system, the crewmembers of the _Ebon Hawk _began investigating the neighboring systems. Their findings there were much more promising. They met with several ships- freighters, cruisers, patrol vessels, what have you- and inquired their crews about the possible whereabouts of the Sith in the vicinities. Most of them were able to give them insight on the activities of the Sith, but the majority of their descriptions were vague at best.

By the end of the second week, the _Ebon Hawk _had entirely searched through three whole systems. The crew still had not yet encountered the Sith. But based on recent reports the crew had acquired, the nearest unexplored system had been visited recently by a swarm of Sith patrol ships. The crew decided to search that system next.

As the _Ebon Hawk _made its way there, Bastila and Revan were sitting on their bed in their quarters. Danrim was asleep in Bastila's arms. She and her husband watched their child sleep, thinking about how young and innocent he was.

Both of them had known about the hardships of parenthood ever since they were very young. Compared to what they had been through together, taking care of a baby was relatively simple. But they still faced certain difficulties. The most significant of these difficulties was easily anxiety. They found themselves worrying about Danrim at that moment; they knew that for every kilometer they got closer to the Sith fleet, they were bringing their infant child a kilometer closer to danger. Pretty soon, they realized that the same conditions went for every other member of the crew.

Bastila began coming up with disquieting speculations about the future.

"If and when we located the Sith armada, what happens after we relay their coordinates to the Republic fleet?" she asked Revan. "Suppose that we are forced to engage them in battle. There's a chance that several members of the crew will be incapacitated, wounded, even killed. Even Danrim may not survive."

"I swear to you; as long as I am the Captain of this ship, I will take care of the people that serve on her." Revan assured his wife. "And as long as I draw breath, I will protect you and Danrim. As your husband and the father of your son, I promise you that I will guard both of you, even if it entails the cost of my own life."

Bastila knew that her husband meant what he said. She could see the truth in his eyes, and apart from that, he had always kept his promises before then. She recalled when they had faced each other on the Star Forge eleven years earlier. He had told her that he loved her and promised her that he would never give up on her and he would save her from the Dark Side just as she had saved him when he was **Darth** Revan. She had first believed that he was lying to her to catch her off guard. But in the end, she brought herself to trust him and to love him in return again.

After Revan had killed Malak and the Star Forge had been destroyed, there was the recognition ceremony held outside the temple on the Rakatan homeworld. It was there that they had given each other their sorrowful good-byes. Revan had decided to stay on the _Ebon Hawk_. The only members of the crew that had decided to stay with him were Hudrow, Davik, T3-H8, T3-M4, and HK-47. The three droids had been inclined to stay with their master. Hudrow had stayed as the _Ebon Hawk_'s pilot and Davik had claimed that he was staying to help Revan run the ship. Everybody knew the real reason now.

As for the rest of the crew, each person had left for a different purpose. Mission had gone to Nar Shaddaa to look for her brother, Griff. She had found him and helped him to open up his own cantina. Zaalbar had gone to Kashyyyk and helped his father to chase away all of the Czerka slavers remaining on the planet. Carth had been transferred to Telos and briefly took over as the head of the restoration project. Trask had been assigned as his assistant.

Juhani had gone with a group of Jedi to Korriban and assaulted the Sith Academy there, shutting it down for good. Jolee had gone with another group to Manaan, and, with the Republic soldiers and the Selkath government backing them up, pushed the Sith off the planet. The Selkath had cancelled all further shipments of kolto to the Sith and given them to the Republic. Canderous had gone to Onderon to bring the Mandalorians back together on Dxun.

Lastly, Bastila had gone to Coruscant to meet her mother and heal her of her terminal illness. She had also notified the Jedi Order of the destruction of the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine. Shortly after this, the Jedi had somehow lost their positive reputation in the galaxy, and subsequently had gone into hiding. By then, Hudrow and Davik had left the _Ebon Hawk _for their own reasons. Bastila had contacted Revan and pleaded for his assistance. Almost three years had passed since the destruction of the Star Forge, but Revan still loved Bastila. It was then that he leased the _Ebon Hawk _and two of the droids (T3-M4 and HK-47, obviously) to Kreia. Revan and T3-H8 had gone with Bastila into hiding, constantly working to repair the reputation of the Jedi.

A year after the second destruction of Malachor V, Revan had finally asked Bastila to marry him. She had quickly and happily replied "Yes," and each of their friends from the original _Ebon Hawk _crew had attended their clandestine wedding.

Three more years later, they had decided to try for a baby, even though it went directly against the traditional way of the Jedi. Now they had had their own child to care for. They intended to be good parents and to see Danrim grow. But at that moment in their quarters, they decided that they would focus on neutralizing the Sith threat first. After that, their first responsibility would be to their son.


	21. Author's Note

Author's Note: I haven't given up on this story yet! Trust me, I intend to finish it. But I feel that I should give you a head's up on a certain piece of news.

Over the next few days, I will be making a series of alterations to several of the chapters, say chapters 10-20. I will be introducing the Sith earlier than I originally planned to introduce them. You see, I figure that it would make more sense to introduce them earlier than I had originally planned. I even plan to add a few chapters in. So all of you people who have already read my story, you may want to reread it from Chapter 9 onward.


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